Is This Real?
by GaleLover8
Summary: POST-MJ/KxG: Nobody in Panem had any idea that Snow could get revenge after death. Somehow, he manages to put the country in peril once again by installing his sister as tyrant and hunting down the Mockingjay and her accomplices. Both top priorities on Snow's hit list, Katniss and Gale are forced to put aside past disagreements and defeat his forces, falling in love in the process.
1. A Ruined Wedding

**All right, you guys that are wondering, "What happened to the other chapters?"**

**Here's the embarrassing truth...I ACCIDENTALLY DELETED the story. I know, I know. Who does that? Accidentally deletes a whole goddamn story? -bangs head on wall- Hmm...at least it's led to one good thing. I can start new and fresh and fix some of the bad things in the original one.**

**Don't worry, it'll have the same plot, just worded a bit differently. And Katniss will be slightly more in-character. I want to thank Twix for giving me a ton of CC to make it better...so thanks! And a huge apology to all my readers for this inconvenience.**

**Enough ranting. Here's the first chapter again. I hope you review and tell me if it's better than before!**

"Real." That one fatal word that brought my life to ruins. I really wish to this day that I'd never uttered the word to my then-future husband while lying next to him, stroking his hair. I'd told him the biggest lie of my life, but the truth is, I hadn't known it then. It was only after a month or so that I'd wondered if I'd really ever experience falling in love.

"Katniss, honey, are you ready?" My mother burst through the door. "It's almost time! Hurry!"

"Coming, Mom," I told her, ushered her out of the room, and shut the door. I needed some time to think to myself. Was what I was doing really right - marrying Peeta so quickly? It had only been a year since the war had ended, and I was just beginning to try to live my old life again. Peeta, admittedly, was making things more complicated by proposing to me the next day. For one thing, I couldn't blame him because I knew he needed someone to depend on, and I knew he really loved me and wanted me to depend on him, too. But I couldn't get myself to tell him that it took me months to sort out my own feelings.

I looked in the mirror and sighed. Katniss Everdeen, seventeen years old, stared back at me with elegant makeup that completely changed her normal appearance. She knew the cameras would be waiting outside so she shouldn't look unpresentable.

_Who cares? I don't._ With a swipe of a wet Kleenex, I wiped off all the blush, eyeliner, and unnatural color off my face and looked at the mirror again. This time I saw a more confident and poised Katniss than before.

"Katniss! Come one! What are you doing? There's one more minute left for you to get out there!" My mother was in the doorway again. She stood there, hands on hips, lanky and thin with a lovely face to cover up her figure. I nodded and and she came over and put her arms around me.

"Oh, Kat. I'll really miss you. But be thankful you're a house away from me!"

I buried my face into her hair and nodded, ignoring the fact that the last person to call me the nickname was my father. "Let's go," I finally said, pulling away from her, and dragging her down the corridor. "Let's get me married before I change my mind."

The music that began to play sounded rather like a funeral hymn to me. I shook my head and looked at Peeta, and the happiness I saw on his face brightened my mood considerably.

Haymitch took my arm and walked me down the aisle. It was a pretty strange and awkward experience, but I figured he was the closest relation of my father's age that could do such a thing. When I arrived at the front of the stage, Peeta smiled, reached down, and took my hand. The cameras in the audience were clicking pictures and probably trying to get a close-up of my face, but I didn't care. The _real _Katniss was getting married, not a fake one.

The priest was rambling on and on and I knew I should pay attention, but I couldn't. I wasn't even thinking about Peeta, either...I was thinking about someone entirely different, who I knew was watching the wedding. Words I recognized brought me out of my dark thoughts.

"Do you, Peeta Mellark, take Katniss Everdeen to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do," he said warmly, squeezing my hand.

"Do you, Katniss Everdeen, take Peeta Mellark to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

Pictures, alarming thoughts, and uninvited memories flashed through my head. I closed my eyes, my heart beating wildly. Somehow I felt that something wasn't right. My hand, in Peeta's, was now cold and clammy, and Peeta looked at me with worry.

Did I really want to do this? Give up the rest of my life and live with someone I didn't really love just to make him happy? Was I really that unselfish of a person, or was I just going to be Katniss Self-Centered Everdeen as usual? Gathering up my thoughts and taking a deep breath, I uttered a single word.

"No."

The audience gasped, and the hurt I saw on Peeta's face was unbearable.

"I mean...I mean, can't it wait?" My words were lost over news reporters' commotion. Everything that I said nowadays seemed to come out all wrong all the time.

I wrenched my hand out of Peeta's, threw off my six-inch heels, and ran down the aisle barefoot. I burst out of the church doors and collapsed on top of a bench outside. The audience was a wreck and the most important day of Peeta's life was a wreck. I'd damaged him severely, and I couldn't think of one thing to do that would make it up to him.

**So...was that better? Please review and let me know if there's anything I could change for the next chapters!**

**Thank you thank you! -Gale (I'm a girl, it's just my nickname :P)**


	2. Unforgivable Faces

**Hai everyone, I have four announcements!**

**1. Thank you all SO MUCH for the reviews and the favorites and the alerts…especially the reviews! You can't imagine how happy I was that you guys liked it better…yes, I have to admit, even I thought Katniss was way more in character this time than last time, because I pretty much remember what she was like last time. So thank yall so much! –virtual hug-**

**2. OMG. So. You know the movie? Of course you do. The Hunger Games movie. A picture of Katniss and Gale during the movie is out. In fact, it's my profile picture, if you wanna good look at it. They. Look. AMAZING. I'm just mindblown. I was originally pissed off with Liam as Gale but after seeing THIS…wow. Just wow.**

**3. I have started a new forum for Gale lovers such as myself, because I always love meeting the rest of my family! It's called "Born A Rebel", and the link's on my profile. I'd love it if you joined my family! Gale lovers must unite!**

**4. I HAD A DREAM ABOUT GALE LAST NIGHT, AND IT WAS LOVELY. So the good news is, this chapter will be filled with…*sigh*…Gale and Gale and Gale.**

**And now on with the story.**

The moment I saw the paparazzi burst through the door and aiming their cameras threateningly at me, I turned around and ran.

I ran for about an hour before I finally reached the calming atmosphere of my own house. I threw the door open and fell down into my favorite sofa. I had so much to think about, but sometimes I just didn't want to think. Sometimes I felt like lying down in my bed and screaming into my pillow. _Maybe_, I thought, _I should just go into the woods and relax for a while_.

My mind was a flurry of thoughts and waves of guilt crashed down on me as I realized that Peeta was probably still waiting in the church with his heart broken. I hoped he would realize that I really meant no harm and I just needed to wait a while longer before marrying him…

If I was even going to do that much for him.

I slapped myself mentally. _Katniss, you idiot! _I thought angrily to myself. _Everything you say comes out the wrong way! You love Peeta Mellark – you told him that yourself!_

But I knew I really wasn't in love. I wasn't in love, and I would never love anyone. I was strong and free and independent, and I would never need a man like every other girl did. I was one of a kind.

I walked to the window and looked out at the woods I'd gone to so many times before everything had turned upside-down. I could barely even see the rock I used to sit on with someone who used to be special to me. I'd pushed him away, and now I'd pushed Peeta away.

Now was definitely not the time to relive old memories that were long lost, but I decided to walk out the door with my head held high and sit on the rock that I used to. The paparazzi would be at my house in a few minutes anyway, and it would be best to remain calm and confident.

As I neared the rock, I heard a low growl which I wasn't supposed to hear. Boars weren't supposed to be roaming around in 12! I whirled around, reaching for an arrow, and then realized that I didn't have my bow or my arrows. I was empty-handed and a wild boar, obviously not indigenous to the District, was facing me with an ugly snarl on its ugly face. I would kill it with my bare hands.

"Come on, Katniss," I muttered to myself. "Use the moves that Haymitch taught you. Strangle it and have no mercy." I cracked my knuckles, rolled my head, and advanced towards the boar.

The moment it lunged, I knew I'd been foolishly brave…I now had less than a second to move out of the boar's way before it bit into my leg or did something equally gruesome.

I slid to the side of the boar, and it fell on my foot with a sickening crack, stunned. I used the few seconds I had to limp over to a tree and start clawing my way up onto a high enough branch.

I heaped the skirt part of my dress over the branch, already a muck-colored brown and streaked with dust, and looked out to see if anyone was nearby. Of course, I would have no such luck because I was one of the only people who ever came into the woods –

I heard a shot, and a yowl of rage. Looking down, I saw the boar sway and fall into a heap at the base of the tree, blood flowing out of its bullet wound.

"Katniss?" I recognized the voice, and I didn't want to turn around to look him in the eye. I was over him and I never wanted to see him again, to even _hear _the boy who killed my sister.

"Katniss?" he repeated. "What are you doing up there?" I finally gathered up enough courage, clenched my teeth, balled up my fists, and spun to face my enemy with a string of bad words waiting to throw themselves at him.

And there he was. Gale Hawthorne, standing there looking better than ever with his hair flopping on his forehead and his well-defined jaw and his head cocked to one side. He was dressed in a shiny new black tux and a red tie hung from his neck.

"Don't talk to me," I snarled, but was momentarily surprised by his attire. "Why the hell are you wearing that?"

He shrugged. "Well, your mom invited me to your wedding. And I guess it's a little too late now…"

"Yes, it is," I hissed. "My wedding is ruined, so you can leave now. Go all the way back to your precious District 2 in your precious limo and kiss your precious girlfriend hello."

"I didn't come in a limo, Katniss." He frowned.

"Well then, how did you get here?" I snapped. "Did you _walk_? Well, you're definitely not poor enough to not be able to afford a limo, so I don't see how else you'd get here."

He looked away, and I knew then that he hadn't come in a limo after all. "No. I came by train." And then I finally looked at his face, and realized that he wasn't lying. His forehead was matted with sweat and he looked sick to the stomach. I knew from experience that riding on the railroad that stretched East-West wasn't a pleasant experience.

"So what happened?" he asked casually, as if we were still best friends. Or friends, even. His words brought a scowl to my face.

"Why did you come?" I asked him coldly. "You know I don't want you here. Neither does Peeta."

His face turned completely serious, and suddenly he looked like I remembered him as a younger boy. Guilt-washed and holding so many distressing thoughts he was about to burst. "I know. But I hadn't seen you in a while, and I just wanted to see you again. And wish you luck with your new life. But I guess I don't deserve to do that. So..." he looked me in the eye - "I am really, really sorry about everything, and I hope you have great years ahead of you with Peeta. I'll miss…I'll miss talking to you. Bye…" He gave me one sincere look that seemed to say, _I know what I did, Katniss_.

And that was it. Gale walked off, hands in his pockets, but I knew him too well to fall for his fake nonchalance. His slouching figure and slightly hung head told me that he wasn't disinterested at all. I knew at that moment he really cared about me, and I kind of regretted being such an asshole.

I thought going home, wrapping up my foot, and talking things out with Peeta would make me feel better. But my mother's claim that she had never invited Gale to the wedding only made me feel worse.

When I went back to the forest the next day, the boar was still lying there.

**Was that all right? Meh...I didn't think it was great...I hope Katniss was still in character...haha she's such a meanie! But don't worry, she'll soften up soon enough. Yess, I kind of changed the plotline because I decided I'm going to focus totally on the romance aspects and make the story a little more simple. Reviews are loved! CC is always accepted! Thanks so much! Gale**


	3. Fake Apologies

**Hi everyone! Thank you so much for all the reviews and the alerts and the faves…I really, really appreciate it. Like you can't even imagine how much I appreciate it. :D**

**And yes, I am GaleLover8 as of now...I don't know why. I confused a ton of people. Yes, folks, I am younger than seventeen.**

**Oh and by the way, I had another dream about Gale a couple nights back! That's TWO NIGHTS IN A ROW! Lucky, huh?(; But it was weird 'cause Prim had an affair with Peeta and Kat was pissed off so she chose Gale, who appeared in a candy store with a mining tool...it was strange. But awesome. 'Cause Gale was hot. And now I'll stop ranting and start the next chapter.**

_It was dark, and the only thing I could see was a burning fire a few feet in front of me. I was sitting on a log, roasting a marshmallow and laughing with my fiancée._

_"Hey, Catnip! Remember those jokes we used to tell each other when we were younger? About Effie Trinket and President Snow?"_

_I froze, my burnt marshmallow halfway to my mouth. "Gale? What are you doing here? Peeta was here just a moment ago!"_

_"No," he replied, confused. "I was here the whole time, as far as I remember. We were talking about Effie Trinket – "_

_" – and Capitol food!" I cried. "And I didn't even accept your apology! Why are you here?"_

_Suddenly, there was a gunshot and a cry of pain. I reached for Gale, grabbed his shirt, and cringed – his arm was hairier than usual, and the smell of blood was stronger on him than anyone I'd ever met. Then I realized the truth as I dragged him into the light._

_"Surprised, Mockingjay?" President Snow cackled under my grasp. "Now prepare to die." He pulled out a knife from under his shirt and got ready to strike…_

"NOOO!" I bolted upright, breathing heavily. My sheets were soaked with my own sweat, and almost all my hair was out of its usual braid. I groaned, turned towards the window, and realized that it was past noon, which was alarming. I reached for the body next to me to warn him that we'd overslept. It took me thirty seconds to figure out that the space next to me was empty.

"Peeta!" I gasped. "I have to go apologize to him!"

I jumped out of bed, stuffed a granola bar and a glass of milk down my throat, and ran all the thirty feet distance from my house to his. _Come on, Katniss, you can do this, _I thought calmingly to myself. _Peeta is a sweet boy. He'll forgive you as long as you're kind. _I lifted my hand to the door, hesitated, and then knocked quickly and jerked my hand back.

"Who is it?" the voice inside was cracked, rusty, and filled with sorrow. I cleared my throat once. "Peeta, it's me."

Everything was still. The wind seemed to completely stop, and the single crow messing around in the sky seemed to drop to its death in an instant.

Then, after a long pause, the door opened just a crack. "What do you want?"

I felt slightly annoyed that whenever I showed up on a doorstep, people assumed I _wanted _something. It was pretty disconcerting, but I decided to be my absolute softest on my fiancée.

"Peeta, I'm here to apologize. I don't want anything except for you to accept my humblest apologies." I didn't know where was I getting these words, but they seemed to warm him up.

He sighed and opened the door. "Come in," he said in an almost uninviting manner. This was strange, especially for Peeta. When I got inside the house, I saw something I'd never seen before..._disorganization_. Paintbrushes lay everywhere, as did scraps of paper. There was paint splattered on the floor, on the walls, on the furniture - it looked more like a circus tent than a house.

Peeta led me to his bedroom. The mess inside his room was worse than the mess outside...boy, he was a really dedicated painter. Posters and easels and drawing pads were scattered everywhere, and what made me the saddest was that his walls were filled with intricate designs and paintings of...well...me.

"They're beautiful," I told him, nodding to his walls. He just muttered a thank you.

I picked a green-splattered bed and sat down carefully, making sure not to get any paint on my mother's expensive dress. Peeta sat right down in the middle of a purple-blotched chair. I stared at him with a surprised look on my face.

"It's dry," he explained.

I nodded, and took a deep breath. "Peeta. You can't imagine how sorry I am about what happened at the - at the wedding. I promise it wasn't because I don't love you. It was because I just wasn't _ready_. You know what kind of a person I am, Peeta…"

He nodded once.

"I'm the type of person who's...well, _scared_of boys. I guess you could put it that way. I must get to know them extremely well before I even think about a romantic aspect. And you know I love you, and I've always loved you since the day I realized who you were as a person. Really, Peeta, I didn't mean to just say 'no' like that! I felt absolutely horrid about what I did. So please, Peeta, please forgive me. Let's forget the past and live in the present, shall we?" I sat back in relief, content with my speech.

But typical Peeta was stuck on one word. "_Felt_?" he asked doubtfully. I rewinded my speech back some ways and realized with a mental slap that I'd once again managed to say the wrong words.

"Peeta," I persisted. "Can we not play with words? You know how I feel about you. _Feel_. I felt like throwing myself out of a window after what I did, and I still do. I know I really hurt your feelings, but you know girls…they really can't control themselves. I really hope that we can erase all this and start over, fresh and new. And I really _am _in love with you." I had to force the last few words out of my throat, but I truly felt bad and knew that Peeta deserved those words.

"Like we did that day on the roof?" he replied quietly. I remembered that day on the roof crystal clear. The memory stung me, but I kept trying to get through to him.

"But maybe start over...again?" I asked hopefully.

"Katniss..." he got up and started pacing the room. "How many times are we going to 'start over'? First we're hot, then we're cold, then we're hot, and now we're cold again. Can this keep going? I believe in steadiness."

"Peeta, I know you love steadiness, and I know you love me! And I really do love you, it's just that we should wait a while for marriage, don't you think? I promise this would be the last time we start over. Everything will be perfect from here on!"

I couldn't help smiling when I saw the slight quirk in his mouth. "Real or not real?"

"_Real_," I said with emphasis, and that broke the glass. He took me in his arms and I smiled on his shoulder and closed my eyes, ignoring the pangs in my chest that seemed to tell me that I'd lied again.

**Haha…did you recognize that?(; Don't worry, I did change it slightly. Reviews would be very appreciated, indeed. Oh, and guess what? I have the new chapter written! Now I'm a chapter ahead, so it'll take me less time to update! Xoxoxo, Gale**


	4. Lists of Death

**Heyall. Thank you all sooooo much for the sweet reviews and all! I really really really really really immensely appreciate it. So here's the next chapter!**

**A lot of you want Gale. I know, I know. I do too. Kat is done messing with Peeta's head now. So the way is cleared for our favorite soldier!**

I walked through the front door of my house to hear the phone ringing and the TV turned on. My mother ran out of the kitchen, rushed toward me and dragged me to the TV. My eyes widened when I saw the tears in her eyes and the worried look on her face.

"Mom, what happened?"

"Katniss, come down here and see this quickly, please!" I nodded and followed her down to the TV and slumped into a sofa as I read the headline:

"Dangerous Presidential Mob Out To Kill Specific Targets!"

The reporter looked excited as she rambled on and on with flushed cheeks. "Citizens and visitors of Panem! I'm warning you here and now, there is a murderous group on the loose – a group of crazed madmen who are followers of the deceased President Snow! Brenda here has one madman who was caught – "

Then the scene changed and there was a drunk man with a full beard and no hair screaming and trying to let himself loose from the metal chains he was attached to.

The woman, Brenda, was trying to interview him without getting too close. "What do you have to say for yourself and your mob?" she asked, trying to sound angry.

"President Snow's career was ruined," he rasped malevolently, "and it was a great one, indeed. The Capitol is vanquished and it is all the fault of a few people. The top two on our list to kill…" he licked his lips – "are Katniss Everdeen, the Mockingjay, and Soldier Gale Hawthorne. They will be found and tortured and killed for their impiety. And if you're watching this, Everdeen and Hawthorne, don't even _think _about running away because as of now, we have our men in _every _district. And after those two are dead, we're after some others…" at this point, the man began rambling off a list of names, and my blood froze when I heard Peeta's name near the end.

The scene changed back to the anchorperson, but I couldn't watch any more. To my relief, the phone rang and I ran to it, hoping it was Haymitch with advice.

"Greetings Miss Everdeen, this is President Cullen speaking." The voice on the other side was deep and knowledgeable, so I decided to trust it blindly, mainly because I had nothing else to hang on to.

"Hello, President. Is there something you need?"

"We want to conduct an interview with you, Miss Everdeen. I decided to ask you in person since you saved the whole of Panem. Are you willing to join me tomorrow at the New Capitol? If you say yes, I will send my personal jet to District 12 right now."

I almost wanted to shout into the phone. "But will I be safe, President? I just saw the news – "

"You will be _fine_, Miss Everdeen. It's my personal jet, remember? It will land right outside my house. The madmen will not know that you are in the jet, and we will air the interview on TV three days later so that if they happen to flock over to the New Capitol, my men will be ready to kill them all."

I let out a slow breath. The request for an interview wasn't completely unbelievable – I'd been requested a lot of those lately, especially since the war was just over. But I decided to comply with the president only because she had a lot of power and could possibly keep me safe.

"I will be there, President."

"Good. I will send my jet there immediately. Be ready by tomorrow morning at nine, and don't be late. I will begin my interview at exactly eleven-thirty. It was nice talking to you, Miss Everdeen. Goodbye."

I said goodbye and hung up with a groan. Had I just put myself and my mother in more danger than we were already in? My mother walked into the kitchen and I could tell from her face that she'd heard the whole conversation.

"Mom, I want you to go stay with Peeta while I'm gone." It was a valid decision, because he was the only person I could trust to keep her safe.

"No, Katniss, are you crazy?" she said. "I'm coming with you, of course! Your life is in danger! I would never let you go out to the New Capitol by yourself!"

"Mom," I said softly, "If I've gone to the _Capitol _by myself, I could go to the _New _Capitol, right? It's much safer than the old one."

"But you've never seen the president before!" she cried. "_No _one's seen the president's face clearly before! If they've been hiding her from the public by making her wear dark, covering clothes on TV, don't you think there's something suspicious about that?"

"Mom, she has a skin infection. Her doctor said that on TV. Besides, the Capitol is refurbished – there are no more evil, malicious people in there! The president will be much nicer than Snow, of course. Maybe she wanted me to see her face first before anyone else."

She seemed to consider this for a moment, and then finally she gave in. "Fine," she sighed. "But you must call me when you reach there, and right after your interview when you board the jet back."

"Sure!" I replied. "I'll do exactly that. And don't worry, I'll be back in less than a day!" I knew she was beyond worried from her sagging shoulders, so I leaned over and gave her one of my rare hugs that I saved only for special moments. I didn't really hug people much, but I decided that a small thing like a hug from Katniss Cold Everdeen would make her feel better.

I could barely eat the next morning. I was shivering incessantly and my skin had gone cold. It was all I could do to force a roll down my throat, along with a glass of orange juice.

The jet appeared on our street at precisely nine. I slipped on my shoes, slung my bag over my shoulder, and waved to my mother as a flight attendant escorted me up the steps.

"Don't worry, Miss Everdeen," she told me in a comforting voice. "You'll be perfectly safe with us. No one will know you're coming to the New Capitol." She eyed my simple clothes wearily, flipped her blonde hair, sat me down in the front row, and walked to the back of the plane. I shifted in my seat, adjusted my T-shirt, and leaned back.

Three hours passed quickly, and I didn't even notice the time flying by. I was too busy trying to string my uncooperative hair into a braid, and all I was ending up with was a messy ponytail. Finally, I gave up and shook it out. It cascaded onto my shoulders and back, and it was a new but strange feeling.

The flight attendant was back, and she helped me up and led me down the stairs onto the land of the New Capitol.

I really didn't have words to describe the New Capitol. Needless to say, it was _much _more homely than the old one, but it was more "cloying" homely. The slightly damp air, warm-colored houses, lawns, and perfectly arranged flowers in front of each of the porch steps put an uneasy feeling in my stomach. The New Capitol Building was ultra white with the slightest tinge of pink, and through each window any passerby would be able to see the comfortable sofas and TV sets inside. There were no desks visible from the outside.

In fact, the only thing ruining the pleasant view was the arrangement of soldiers, each soldier in his classic light gray uniform, bulletproof vest, and heavy helmet. They were standing straight, circling the entrance of the New Capitol Building. I took a deep breath and followed the flight attendant through the hall of trees toward the soldiers and the entrance. I kept repeating reassuring lines in my head, believing that there was nothing wrong with this redone Capitol, however strangely perfect it looked. But the sight of one person erased all reassurance from my head.

_How could they put him here? _I thought to myself in alarm. _If the government officers know he's the first on the waiting list for death, how could they make him guard the mob's first target?_

Gale Hawthorne's eyes widened underneath his helmet as I passed through the front door of the New Capitol Building.

**So…how was it? I get really worried after I post each chapter because I'm afraid it's not going to be good. XD So I'd love reviews and I'd love if you let me know what you liked or disliked and where to improve, etc.! Thanks so much! Gale**

**P.S. I had a THIRD dream about Gale. That's three dreams in a week. Awesome, huh?**

**P.P.S. Go to my profile and look at the first link. I'll give you cookies if you try not to laugh at the video.**


	5. Unreal Presidents

**Aahh, thanks so much, you guys! I really appreciate the chweet reviews and alerting and favoriting and all that! Really, I do. So thank yall so much! So without further ado, here's the next one!**

**By the way, I got a lot about the "President Cullen". I'm sorry. I just couldn't resist putting that in there…(: Mwahahahaaaa.**

The inside of the building was even worse than the outside. As I entered the building, the first thing that caught my eye was the incredible simplicity of it all. The walls were the same color as the outside of the building; a light, warm pink. There were couches all around with cushions and puffy pillows. The scene nearly made me throw up.

Ribbons lined the walls and the workers were all…women. There was not a man to be seen, other than the guards at the front. Each woman was wearing a pink flowy top with dark pink jeans so tight it made me wince to watch her walk around in them.

"Come _on_!" The air hostess (who was now my guide) ushered me up the coral-colored stairs standing grandly in the middle of the gigantic lobby. The workers that passed by gave me strange looks, as if I shouldn't belong here. I wasn't used to this – maybe fame had just gotten to my head, but I was used to screams and shouts and autograph requests when I passed through a crowded area.

Then again, I _didn't _belong here. Whether it was the new, "safe" Capitol or the old one, I would never feel like I was at home in this place. In fact, the choice the New Capitol made by putting Gale Hawthorne of all soldiers smack in the spotlight of the building didn't help calm my nerves. It only made me more suspicious.

We passed through hallways and more hallways. The further we got, the more uneasy I became. The air was getting thicker and I was having trouble breathing.

Finally, we reached the end of the hallway, where a light purple door was slightly open, revealing the President's room inside.

"Good luck," the air hostess whispered to me. "Go in right now. You're already thirty seconds late."

I nodded, thanked her, and watched her walk away. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them. Then I walked in with a sanguine nod.

* * *

><p>"Well, hello, Mockingjay." The figure in the swivel chair hadn't turned around to face me yet. I waited, putting all my weight on one of my legs, and then the other.<p>

"You can take a seat, my dear. Take the seat right to your left." She still hadn't turned around.

I obediently slid the chair in the corner of the room to the space in front of her desk. Her room was pretty tiny compared to the rest of the New Capitol, and I was surprised.

"Do you know…why they elected me?" She turned her chair forty-five degrees, so I could only see the pale brown hair that fell in wisps down to her shoulder.

I shook my head, and then realized she couldn't see me. "No, ma'am."

"They thought I'd make very good reformations. You know…after _Snow _died." She swiveled counterclockwise dangerously fast and stared right into my eyes.

And for the first time, I saw her without the black shroud and the heavy makeup that she wore the few times she was shown on TV. I finally looked at the mouth through which impressive speeches had spurted and convinced the whole of Panem that she was the right choice for a leader.

I was face-to-face with President Snow's female lookalike.

The scene gave me such a shock that I jumped in my chair and choked on my spit. I blinked a couple of times and rubbed my eyes and even _pinched _myself to make sure I'd wake up from this nightmare. But nothing worked and I ended up only making a fool out of myself in front of President…Cullen.

"Shall we begin?" She opened a cupboard to her right and to my surprise, a cameraman jumped out, pointing the video camera right at me.

My mouth was still half open, and I remembered to shut it and look at Cullen with a calm, renewed expression. I took another deep breath and cleared my throat.

"Yes, let's begin."

"So." She tapped her fingers on her chair and focused her red eyes on mine. "Was it _difficult_? Being the Mockingjay? Or did you just have all the fun _planning _military victories and sit back and watch people die?"

"Uhm." I was even more confused. Was this even the real president? What kind of a president would ask such a question? "Yes, it was very difficult indeed. It was true that I planned a lot but in reality, most of the planning was done by…Soldier Gale Hawthorne." I had a hard time getting the words out of my mouth. "I fought too, though. It's not like I sat back and didn't do anything."

"So you think you deserve credit, huh?" Her voice was menacing, shrewd.

_Obviously! _I wanted to shout, but instead I kept my calm. If we were faced as a country with _another _bad egg of a president, I didn't want to be the one to unleash her anger. "No, no, of course not." I had to be careful with this lady.

She nodded, considering this. "Katniss Everdeen, what do you want from me? As a president?"

I swallowed hard. "I would just…_appreciate_…a good leader, as in someone who is fair and trustworthy. Quite the opposite of President Snow." I slapped myself mentally. What was the need for the last bit?

"Aha," she crooned, as if she'd won over me in some sort of an argument. "You want me to be the opposite of President Snow, don't you?"

I nodded quickly, silently hoping that she wasn't in any way related to her lookalike. "Sort of. I mean, he wasn't the fairest, was he? Or the nicest?"

She jut out her lower lip and gave me a nod. Somehow it seemed that she was mocking me. "He definitely wasn't Daddy President that we want now, right? But not worries. Let me tell you that I am not President Snow in any way. In fact, I get _insulted _if anyone calls me anything close to the damned name." I smiled politely, pretending to agree with her words.

"I saw your reaction to my looks," she said, sounding offended. "Anything to say to that?"

Once again she had managed to lower me with just a few words. I hesitated, and then gave her my most careful answer.

"President, I have absolutely _nothing _against your looks!" She raised her eyebrows. "I'm serious," I continued. "It's just that you look _so much _like President Snow, I almost thought he was alive again!"

Wrong answer.

Lady Snow's face turned bright red, and she stood up with her fists balled at her sides. "Get. OUT."

I shook my head in confusion, as I hadn't realized what I'd said wrong. "Did I say something, President Cullen?"

She clenched her teeth and screamed in rage. "You devil! You compared me to President Snow! I told you that I am nothing like him. Get out of this room at this very moment."

I decided not to cause any more harm to myself or this lady and quickly slid my chair to the corner again and rushed out the door. I speed walked down the stairs and through the lobby. Thoughts were echoing in my head, thoughts that said, _Danger, danger, Katniss! Get out of here right now and don't ever come back! You weren't able to save Panem after all! _I shuddered and listened to my head for the first time. I was utterly befuddled, and there was _nothing _clear about what was going on. Why did Cullen suddenly have an outburst when I compared her to Snow? Will she not even admit that they look like twins? Are they related, and is she carrying on his fatal rule?

I realized that as Mockingjay, the media and the whole of Panem would depend on me to find out this information and save the country once again. But how could I when there were extremely strong madmen after me and I didn't even know how to get back home safely with no weapons at my side and no jet to take me there?

As I burst out of the doors, a hand caught my wrist and jerked me to a stop. I whirled around and glared at Gale. He motioned to the wall to the left of us and with one look at his tensed face I immediately understood what he was trying to tell me.

_Go to the wall, Katniss. I know exactly what is going on and I need to tell you._

**O.o Honestly, I have no idea what I wrote there. I didn't even expect to write such a thing...hoo damn...all right. I think I've got the rest of the plot outlined but I just added another complication -.- LOL I fail. XD**

**Anyways, reviews will make me a very happy girl!(: Hope you all have a great weekend! ~Gale**


	6. Take a Bullet

**You guys want Gale? You guys get Gale. Here he is, the entire chapter.**

**And oh oh and I wanna thank Sapphire Wych for reading and revising and helping me edit the contents of this chapter. So thank you!**

I complied. Gale Hawthorne might not have been my friend anymore, but I would gather any information from anyone to ensure the safety of myself, my family, and everyone else.

I ran as fast as I could to the wall and hid behind it. Looking over my shoulder, I found a dense forest standing there, as if it was waiting for me to run into it and find shelter…

Gale ran behind the wall and came face-to-face with me. I trembled and moved back, but he grabbed my shirt with as much force as he could.

"Look at me, Katniss. They're having me guard because they know I'm easier to get than you. They don't care that much about me. The whole thing you went to was a setup. Are you sure that when you killed Snow that his family was fine with it? Did you even _check _to see which family members could have been watching?"

I was shaking harder now, and my voice came in a terrified whisper. "_What? _Gale, what are you saying? That…that…"

"President Snow has a _family_," he growled. "'President Cullen' that you so lovingly talked to is in fact your one enemy's twin sister. The monstrous president's sibling who wants to get back at you."

"You can't be serious. How come she appeared so normal on TV but has mental problems in her presidential office?" I shot back, not willing to believe such a stupid statement.

"It's your fault for sucking up every word the media lets out!" he cried in frustration. "When Snow was found mysteriously dead, don't you think it was suspicious that they didn't show a single picture of his family on TV? Wasn't it strange that 'Cullen' never showed her face, and she only went out in public wearing veils and dark make-up? Why did she behave so strangely during your interview? She has plans for you, that's why! She's related to Snow, she's fuming about his death, and she's started her own gang to take her anger out on us because she's not strong enough! Katniss, she's too weak to fight you! So with the rest of Panem dancing under his sweet words, she has plans to execute you _today_! That's why you shouldn't have gone!"

I staggered backwards. "What?" I couldn't think. Now that I knew I'd never defeated the enemy, it occurred to me that all my loved ones were in danger. I didn't have any weapons, and I didn't know how I'd ever be able to get back home safely and see my mother and Peeta again.

Gale steadied me by putting his hands on my shoulders, and I stared into his eyes, hoping to see lies and mischievousness. But I saw was plain, horrid truth…

"How did you find all this out? Why did you stand in front of the Capitol when you knew it was her?"

"I just found out," he admitted. "It was pretty stupid, but I believed the media too…I knew something of a conspiracy was being formed so I overhead a meeting on the first floor. I wanted to find out more so I sneaked into the building, looked through the glass on the door, and heard every word. I can't do anything about it now because some of the guards here are theirs. And Katniss, there's more."

I didn't want to hear any more – I had heard enough for the time being. But Gale ignored my horrified looks and continued rambling on about Cullen. "She has a disease, Katniss. She's partially mental. I know this because I'd read something on her a while back, and it suddenly came back to me. She wants to act like her brother without seeming so – that was her ingenious plan to get back at you. Unfortunately for her, she's not such a great actor because, well, she's diseased. And it's understandable that she was struck hard when Snow died, so all she could think about was revenge. Unfortunately, you had the title of Mockingjay and I'd done the most damage to the Capitol as a soldier so we ended up being the first people that came to her head."

"But if she's mental, how did she give all those speeches? How did she manage so speak so fluently and well and give such convincing talks?"

"She was trained. She was trained to ramble the sentences off extremely well. Didn't you notice that she froze when she was asked questions on TV? That's why she avoided them so much. She doesn't know how to ask or answer questions. That's why she was very un-president-like when she interviewed you today."

I knew I should be worried about killing this new addition to the evil line of presidents, but instead I was sweating over the wellbeing of my mother and Peeta. I decided not to tell my former best friend about what I was thinking.

"Gale, how am I going to get home?" I asked him desperately. "The country will know in three days that I failed to execute the family. I don't have weapons, so I can't kill her now, and I can't take any soldiers' weapons."

"Here." He handed his gun to me and started taking off his bulletproof vest. "Do it right now."

"Are you CRAZY?" I shouted at him. "You're number one on the list, you know! You can't just sit out here right in front of the New Capitol completely weapon free!"

"Don't worry, I'll hide here," he replied, even though both of us knew it would be even easier to kill him if he wasn't near his fellow soldiers.

"I'm not taking your things," I said stubbornly, handing his gun back to him. "I don't want to risk my life as well as yours."

"But I do." And when I looked at him, I knew he was telling the truth, and I realized what he was trying to do.

Gale Hawthorne was trying to sacrifice himself to save my life and reputation. I didn't know _why _he was doing it – maybe he felt guilty about Prim or maybe it was because he still loved me – but I knew that whether I was mad at him or not, even if I never wanted to see his face again, I would never to live my life knowing he was dead.

"You're not dying for me," I told him sternly, but I didn't have time to push him somewhere that would make him less noticeable because a pair of hands clutched my throat.

It felt like Hell. Whoever was trying to kill me was squeezing with the strength of a gorilla. Gale was startled but he recovered quickly and whirled around, kicking the man who was about to strangle him. He grabbed my hands, wrenching me forward, whipped out his gun, and hit the man who was choking me on the head. I heard a _crack _and saw Gale wince. For some reason I figured he didn't love hurting humans after all, even if they were your enemies.

I coughed and tried to regain my breath. Gale got on his knees to see if I was okay, but meanwhile, his attacker was advancing on him. So I wrenched the gun out of his hands, loaded it, pointed, and pulled the trigger. The man fell to the ground, dead. Gale didn't even bother turning around. He was too busy working with my wrist and trying to steady my drumming pulse.

"Holy shit Gale, look!" I choked out, pointing at distant figures that seemed to be running towards us. They didn't look very friendly, and we knew that they were after us.

Gale took his gun and swore. "I don't have any bullets left," he groaned, and turned to the soldiers. "Fire at the running men! Thirty seconds," he barked. I watched the men nod and aim their guns at the New Capitol courtyard. The figures were getting closer and closer.

"Throw me a clip, Anderson." Anderson, the soldier situated near the end of the line, reached into a box behind him and tossed Gale a clip, which he stuffed into his gun.

"What do we do now?" I panicked.

Gale seemed to think for a second, and then he made up his mind. "_Run_." He grabbed my hand and I didn't bother to let go as we sprinted into the woods, the surroundings that we knew so well.

Unfortunately, this was an extremely stupid thing to do because knowing that the woods was our favorite place, there were more killers waiting right there in a clearing for us.

Gale acted fast. He shrugged off his bulletproof vest and wrapped it around me before I could protest. Then he took out his gun, loaded it, and began shooting. He took down three people in thirty seconds, but there were two more and they attacked me from behind. I used my best back kick to ward one off but the other one had me trapped. He slapped one hand over my mouth, and used his other arm to secure me in place. I couldn't move or speak. The man I had kicked had now recovered, and was pointing a gun at my head. I looked pleadingly at Gale. I seriously hated travelling without weapons.

He now had two guns in his hands; each gun was pointing at one of the men. I was only afraid that he'd shoot me instead because my body was covering most of theirs.

"Let her go," he told them through clenched teeth. One of the men cackled.

"Soldier Hawthorne, you shoot me, your girlfriend here dies." I let out a muffled shout through his hand to indicate that I was nowhere near Gale's girlfriend.

Then he did something I thought he'd never do. When he'd told me years ago that he'd take a bullet for me, I'd never realized just how serious he'd been.

He dropped both guns to the ground and put up his arms.

"Shoot me, but let her go."

**HE'S SUCH A GENTLEMAN. -sniffle- I want to thank all of you who reviews, faved, and/or subscribed to me. You guys are so sweet. And umm reviews today will make me happy, too. Really very happy. Really really really very happy. :D ~Gale**


	7. Slip of the Tongue

**You guys...I really can't thank you enough for your wonderful reviews. Thank you so much, each and every one of you. It's only because of you guys that I keep writing this story.(:**

**Here's the next chapter!**

I was afraid.

I knew that Gale would most definitely take a bullet if that's what would save my life, and I didn't at all like the idea of watching him get shot. My anger at Gale was diminishing for some reason, and I realized that I couldn't imagine a life without him. Would Peeta have ever taken a bullet for me and stood in front of me so boldly? Maybe I really did need someone like Gale in my life.

I shook my head, reprimanding myself for thinking such horrid thoughts. Suddenly I came back to the present and saw one of the men lift his gun…

"NO!" I screamed, and in one sudden movement, I jerked my elbow free and hit him right in the groin. He yelled out in surprise and pain and I wrenched myself out of his disgusting arms. The other man only sighed and shook his head, not bothering to help out his friend.

"I just let the girl go," he told Gale in a menacing voice. "But now you're dead. Leave her to run away. I'll do it quick, I promise. You won't feel a thing." He laughed an ugly laugh and aimed his gun.

_Run_, Gale mouthed, looking at me. "Go," he said a little louder, when he saw that I wasn't cooperating. "Save yourself and your mother and Peeta before they get killed. I'll miss you, Catnip." The nickname broke my heart just a little. With that, he turned to the man and squeezed his eyes shut. "Just make it fast," he said bravely, but I heard his voice break ever so slightly. Gale had a family, too.

I didn't waste a second of time. I ran off as fast as I could after giving Gale a guilty smile, making sure that the man knew that I was gone for good. Then, quietly as a mouse, I crept through the brush all the way back to the clearing where the man was about to shoot Gale.

His meaty fingers grasped the gun and he began to press the trigger.

For the second time that day, I surprised a man. I lunged at him with a shout, but I hadn't noticed the other man, the one I'd elbowed in the balls, behind me. He grabbed me but this time I managed to elbow his face.

The killer shooting Gale was startled and he missed shooting Gale by about an inch. I took my chance and gave him my worst, most ferocious kick, grabbed his gun, and copied Gale's previous actions by hitting him on the head. He swayed a little and then fell.

I watched Gale lean back, relieved, into the trunk of a tree and I couldn't help looking at his face in wonder. He seemed completely unperturbed; unhurt by anything that had happened. He only looked calm and cool and confident and poised and perfect. His hair was messed up but in reality, it made him look older and better than ever.

And at that moment, the most important thing was that he was alive. I grinned and ran to him, but paused awkwardly as I got near him. He opened his eyes and peered at me.

"I'm alive!"

That did it…I started laughing. Laughing being contagious, Gale began to crack up, too. We took one look at each other and couldn't stop. We both bent over, choking on our spit and laughing about nothing funny in particular…maybe it was just the intense happiness one feels after escaping near death. He was the first to recover, and he watched me snort in laughter for a few more seconds before I finally managed to collect myself.

I jut out my hand. "Friends?"

"Friends," he smiled, and shook it. I never told him that his touch sent jolts of electricity down my spine.

I was careful around Gale. I still believed in my "Katniss Everdeen is better off single" theory, and so I decided not to make any physical contact with any boy, especially Gale.

"Katniss," he told me an hour after walking around silently in the forest. The trees looked the same as they did in 12, so they made me feel more at home. Gale had taken off all his soldier attire and was walking around in jeans and a dark green shirt, my favorite color. I couldn't figure out how he could wear layers of clothing in the extreme heat. His hair looked windswept and he looked extremely tired. I could tell from the bags under his eyes and his mouth set in a straight line. Was it possible that someone could look so perfect without getting any sleep?

"Yeah?" I replied, trying not to look at him.

"They're everywhere. We have to run away right now or get attacked in the next few hours. Do you know a place where they'll never go? Someone you befriended that the Capitol doesn't know of?"

I thought hard. Most of my friends lived in District 12, and I knew I shouldn't go back there now, whatever the cost. I believed in Peeta to keep my mother safe and take her somewhere they wouldn't be attacked. Then it hit me.

"Gale, we should go to Annie," I exclaimed. "The press has forgotten about Finnick by now…" I bit my lip. Finnick was one of my closer friends during the war, and he'd been eaten savagely by mutts in front of my eyes. Watching him go had been unbearable. "…and they don't know that I'm friends with Annie. She's in her summer house in 10 right now, which is only a two hour's walk away!"

Gale looked at me. "Depends on where in the forest we are, Katniss. I have no clue and neither do you."

As he spoke the words, we reached the last layer of trees and could see a street beyond.

"I do," I said, and pointed. "I bet someone can tell us where to go."

"Are you nuts?" he cried, pulling me back. "We don't even know if they're New Capitol lovers…Cullen has probably made up some nasty rumor by now and turned everyone against us!"

"I hope Annie doesn't believe them," I muttered. "Come on," I told him. "It doesn't hurt to try. Peeta always told me to not give up." The name brought a horrible picture to my head, and I cried out in fright. Where were Mom and Peeta? "I should call Peeta and ask if he and Mom are okay," I said quickly. "We need to get to Annie's house…fast. She has a phone."

"Katniss! They're coming," Gale said frantically, pulling me up from the rock. "There's no time to rest! I heard gunshots, didn't you?"

I guess I was too busy trying to arrange my speech for Peeta to hear anything. "Gale, there's no other choice but to go out! We'll die faster if we linger here for hours! Let's go." We walked as quickly as possible out into the new town street and Gale read the sign.

"District 10 Limit! Catnip, you're a genius!" Neither he nor I acknowledge the slip of my old nickname. Gale paused briefly, contemplating his next statement and I just smiled awkwardly.

"I know where to go from here," I told him, eager to break the silence. "Keep walking on this road and you reach her summer house in about two hours. I've been there before," I added, seeing his look of confusion.

Gale shrugged. "All right, I hope we don't get lost."

So we started walking.

**Meh...I guess that was OK. Reviews are loved! Thanks so much! Gale**

**P.S. School started on Wednesday and so I'm already swamped in hw...however I'll try my hardest to update fast! I hope you guys understand if I delay once in a while because, you know, high school = death. LOL.**


	8. Stolen Cars

**Thank you guys SO much for the amazing reviews! I really love you guys all and remember I ALWAYS accept CC so don't hesitate! Thanks also for the faves and the alerts!**

**AND I FINALLY REMEMBERED CREDIT: Thank you EStrunk for the CC, and thank you Sapphire Wych for like editing/proofreading/idea-ing each of my chapters before I post them! YAY. (Btw, you should go read their stories because they're awesomesauce.)**

It was the strangest and most uncomfortable walk I'd ever been on with my best friend. I thought that finally seeing me after months would excite him and cause him to ask me millions of questions about my life with Peeta, but I was wrong.

That jealousy he'd once had about me being with Peeta was now completely gone. In fact, he seemed almost disinterested, walking nonchalantly with his hands in his pockets and kicking a rock once in a while. One hour felt like days of torture, so when we finally stopped for a rest, I spoke.

"How's your life at 2?"

He looked into the distance and smiled. I hated it when he did that…it made me feel like I was stupid, like I was missing out on something or he knew something I didn't.

"It's fine."

I looked around us. The forest was almost completely gone now…there was only a vast open space around us with rocks and dust flew everywhere from the cars that passed by a hundred meters or so away. There was a harsh wind blowing, and my throat was dry. The sun was hidden behind the clouds but the humidity was tantalizing. Every two miles there was a stop, but I led us away from each stop because I knew it would only waste the precious time we had. Peeta and Mom were probably sick with worry by now and I needed to assure them that I was safe.

Gale, on the other hand, didn't at all look like he was in a hurry. He plopped down right on the ground and motioned for me to sit down next to him.

I had no idea why, but my heart speeded up at the thought of sitting next to him so instead I carefully placed my butt a few feet away from him so we were face to face.

Unfortunately, this was a mistake because it was worse looking at him than sitting side-by-side. I noticed his face was red with exhaustion and that he looked thinner than ever. Why hadn't I noticed this before? I guess his tux and heavy army suit had covered up his appearance both times.

"Don't you _eat_?" My voice came out angry for some reason, startling him.

"Yeah, I do eat, Katniss," he said, carefully using my proper name.

"Why are you so damn skinny? You used to starve yourself to feed your family a few years ago. You don't have to do that anymore, right?"

He shrugged. "I just don't eat that much. I guess I'm too busy with work to eat, you know?"

My eyes widened. "So you _don't _eat! What is wrong with you, Gale? Feel fat so you're losing weight to impress the girls?"

"What girls?" he asked innocently, abruptly ending our conversation. I didn't know whether Gale was being serious or not, but honestly, I had no intention of finding out.

The two of us sat in utter silence for five minutes, brooding over our own problems until Gale suddenly stood up. "Let's go," he muttered, and gave me a hand.

I could only stare at that hand, looming threateningly in front of my face. My mind was screaming at me to slap it away but my heart was urging me to grab it and hold on forever. I ignored both and took it graciously. He pulled me up and I let go the second I was balanced on the ground.

"Ready?" he asked, and I nodded, leading the way again.

Each truck that passed by made me lose my mind just a little bit. It was everything I could do not to jump onto one of them and arrive at Annie's house within minutes, but I knew that it would be dumb and I would end up regretting it for the rest of my life.

I shut my mouth quickly, realizing that I'd let out an unwanted sigh while looking longingly at a truck parked on the side of the freeway. Gale took one look at me, then the parked truck, and I could almost see a mischievous light bulb flashing over his head. I looked straight ahead and walked forward quickly but Gale caught my hand.

"Wait here," he told me quickly, and then sped to the truck without paying heed to any of my protests. I saw him look for the driver, he wasn't anywhere in sight. I ran over to Gale and started dragging him back onto the road.

"We shouldn't do this," I pleaded. "Please, Gale! We'll have more of a chance of having the country against us now! Don't add to it by stealing a car!"

He took both my shoulders and glared into my eyes.

"Are you thirsty?" I couldn't help but nod slowly, and he let go of my shaking body. He took something made out of metal out of his jeans pocket, twisted it in a unique way, jerked it around in the lock, and pulled the door open. Ignoring my horrified stare, he jumped onto the drivers' seat and looked at me expectantly.

"No." I crossed my arms over my chest and tapped my foot impatiently. "Get out of the car. We'll walk there. I'm not stealing a car."

"_I'm_ the one stealing it," he reminded me, laughing. "Besides, we can always give it back to the owner after we finish using it, right? So it's technically _borrowing_."

I didn't budge, and Gale sighed. "Katniss, come on. Don't be troublesome…we need to find safety, not think about what's right and wrong. You can save the world and forgive my sins once this is all over. Besides, don't you want to let your Mom and…_Peeta _know that you're safe faster? Every minute means something to them, you know." He raised an eyebrow.

I gritted my teeth, stomped to the other side, and climbed into the seat next to Gale and his amused grin. Did he think this was all a joke?

I shut the door and he shut his, jamming the metal thing into the starter. The engine whirred and Gale carefully drove the truck onto the road.

**Did you likey? I'm personally not so pleased with this chapter because nothing really happened and it was super short...I'm so sorry for not replying to PM's, etc. I've been SUPER busy with school! 12:30 to bed every night and get up at 6:30...that's life. -_- LOL.**

**Reviews will make my day! Love, Gale**


	9. Didn't Visit Me

**HOLD UP. Do we sense an extremely quick update here? Yes, yes, I think we do!**

**I HAD THE COOLEST DREAM. EVER. So basically it was THIS story, and I was Katniss, and Gale was there looking hot as ever, and basically I was a double-personality because I had access to both Kat's mind AND my own, and it was just so heartbreakingly cool.**

**On with the story.**

Half-an-hour passed before Gale finally pulled up in front of a green one-story house with a perfectly mowed lawn and an oak tree to the side.

"How did you know this was it?" I asked, forgetting my annoyance for a moment. I couldn't remember ever telling Gale where Annie's house was in the last few hours.

"I realized I've been here before. I visited her a couple months ago," he explained further upon seeing the confused look on my face.

"And you didn't visit me," I muttered, climbing down and slamming the door shut in a fury. It occurred to me that I was the one who had never wanted to see him again.

"_What_?" he asked, flabbergasted, and then just shut up and followed me to the front door. The oak tree was already starting to lose its leaves in the September weather and I crunched through at least a hundred before finally reaching the door and giving it a good solid knock.

My throat was parched and my head reeled and I knew I needed rest, so the wait of fifteen seconds in front of Annie's door was the worst fifteen seconds I'd ever experienced in my life. Gale walked up to stand behind me, calm as ever. I flinched when I felt his hand on my arm.

"Are you okay?" he asked, concerned, and I knew my face revealed my pain.

"I'm fine," I snapped, jerking my arm away. Thankfully, Annie opened the door before anything more awkward could have happened.

"Katniss!" she cried, and flung her arms around me. I hugged her back tightly, as she was the only girl friend I could depend on. Madge was gone forever.

She pulled back and I got a good look at her. There were lines of exhaustion around her sea-green eyes and her once perfect, gorgeous chocolaty hair was tied up in a messy bun. The way she wore her dark purple shirt, with the bottom sticking out of her shorts, brought back an ocean of memories that I would probably cry over all night. My beautiful sister, Prim, whose killer was standing right behind me. As if she could read my thoughts, Annie suddenly seemed to notice Gale.

"Gale! I didn't see you there," she said, and I could hear the overwhelming emotion in her voice. She squeezed him tightly, and he hugged her back. Somehow I found myself turning away and reliving the moment he had hugged me just before I went riding off to the Capitol for my first Hunger Games…

"Come in, come in," she said, slamming the door shut and pulling us both into the living room. There was a set of sofas covered with towels and a TV sitting in the corner. It took me a while to notice a young child sprawled on the floor, mashing crayons into paper with intense concentration.

"This is Jax," Annie told us, motioning to the boy. I leaned in closer and saw that he had Annie's green eyes and Finnick's auburn hair.

"Jax, sweetie, come here," Annie said in a weary voice.

"No." Just like Finnick. He continued working on his masterpiece and didn't even turn around to say hello to his guests

"Jaxon Odair, you come here right now or a time-out will be in place," she said sternly.

With a grumble, he abandoned his drawing and turned around.

"Say hi," his mother instructed.

"Hi." He turned back and picked up a green crayon.

I walked over to him and kneeled down. "Hi, Jax," I said in my sweetest voice. "I'm Katniss. How are you doing today?"

"Fine."

"I'm sorry," Annie apologized behind me. "He's really concentrating on something right now. Come, I'll give you some food and drinks and you need to tell me all the details!" Gale and I complied and walked into the kitchen.

It was beautifully arranged…neither of us knew Annie could have such insight. There were no stains and no dishes lying around ungracefully. It was incredible, considering she had an infant child.

The first thing I did was fill up five cups of water and drain them in a minute. After I wiped my face on my towel, I caught Gale staring at me.

"What, never had water after you were dying of thirst before?"

He gave me a small smile and continued eating his toast and eggs. In fact, he shouldn't have been the one staring – he was finished with six slices of bread and three eggs by the time Annie and I sat down to eat, so I ended up having to explain our whole adventure to her while he was in the bathroom.

She listened attentively and I was about to begin telling her about my romance problems when the phone started ringing.

A thought struck my head. I had forgotten to call up Mom and Peeta! I ran to the phone just as Annie finished a small conversation with whoever was on the other side and held it out towards me, mouthing, _It's your mom_. My face turned red in shame and I grabbed it and almost yelled into the phone.

"Mom, are you okay? I'm fine, I'm here at Annie's house with…with Gale. Is Peeta there? They haven't attacked you yet, have they? Are you somewhere safe?"

My mother's voice was exactly the opposite of what I'd hoped…disappointed. "Katniss, I can't believe you didn't call! What were you thinking? You could just go prancing off with your best friend and everything would be all right? Why didn't you call from a stop?"

I bit my lip. "I'm sorry, Mom, I really am! I was about to go and call you but you called anyway."

"Forget that," she said hastily. "I'm so glad you're all right. Someone informed me there are people coming here so Peeta's taking both of us to a safe place…stay safe, Katniss, I'm thinking about you every single day. Here, talk to Peeta – "

I didn't even have time to put my thoughts together before I heard his voice on the other side. "Katniss! Where are you? Are you okay?"

"Peeta! I'm fine, I'm fine," I cried, tears streaming down my face. "Keep yourself and Mom safe! Don't die, please!" I couldn't stand losing any more people I cared about. Rue, Finnick, my father, and especially Prim was enough for me.

"I'll be fine, Katniss! Listen to me…there will be soldiers coming to your district by tomorrow morning or so! The madman on TV just blurted it out! Please, get out of there by then! We have to go now. I love you!"

I couldn't get myself to tell him I loved him back. Instead, I slammed the phone down on the cradle and turned to Annie with a panicked look on my face.

"They're coming tomorrow," I told her breathlessly. "Annie, you have to take Jax and yourself out of here. Do you have anywhere to escape?"

"What?" She turned white. "_Tomorrow _morning?" I nodded.

"Yeah, I can go to my mom," she mumbled, looking down. "What'll happen to you and Gale?"

"We'll manage," I told her quickly. "I don't want to go to your mother's house with you because there are already soldiers in every other district, so that would put you in danger."

I put an arm around her and squeezed my shoulder. "Don't worry," I told her. "We'll help you get out of here. Everything will be fine, and you and Jax will be safe. I promise." She nodded and her bottom lip trembled. I left her to mourn silently and rushed down the hallway to find Gale.

At this point, I had no idea where Gale and I were destined to go. I didn't have any clue that President Snow would have left so many madmen supporters and they would all be out to kill us. I wondered how many people had been tortured and were already dead.

I heard his voice coming from the room at the end, and I ran to the doorway, ready to blurt out the horrific news when I saw Jax sitting on the bed next to him. That's right, who else would he be talking to?

The two of them were engaged in a deep conversation, and Gale looked happier than I'd seen him in a long time. He said something and made a funny face that made Jax laugh and shout. His hair was messy and his shirt wrinkled but he looked like he didn't want to be anywhere else.

So I smiled to myself and left them alone.

**Thank you guys soooo much for the reviews on the last one, I know it didn't live up to your expectations but I hope this one made it better! Now I'm off to Slytherin Draco's bed(; [I'm sorry. I read that on a tumblr and it has been my status everywhere.]**

**Can we reach 100? You guys are the absolute best. Love to you all and I hope you guys are having an awesome schoolyear so far. Or however old you are I don't know.**

**xoxoxoxoxo. Gale**


	10. Kidnappers and Murderers

**GOT. INTO. POTTERMORE. I'm ecstatic right now. Add me if you are too! HeartProphecy62**

**Ooh and thanks EStrunk and Daydreaming Viking Girl for pointing out a slight error...okay, guys, Jax is one year old! (Trust me, one-year-olds can have ATTITUDE. I have experienced this with my own cousin.) So if yall read the first chapter again, it says "one year" instead of "three months". Hooray! Thank you both very much!**

_I was missing one of my senses._

_I flung myself around the room wildly; the white walls were bare and the carpet was old and rugged. Each of my other senses was tripled in intensity…the sound of tiptoeing banged on my eardrums. Each time my foot padded on the floor, it sent a horrifying pain up to my hip. I didn't know where I was going and with who._

_Everyone had left me except…there was a silhouette near the other corner of the wall. I waved away the fog that was clouding my view and ran excitedly towards the one person who could make anything better…_

_…but instead, I stopped, disappointed._

_"Katniss!" he cried, running to me and throwing his arms around me. I tried to give him a smile as he pulled back, and failed._

_He looked concerned. "I have some bad news, Katniss," he told me quietly. I knew what was coming. I bit my lip and looked away, but Peeta wouldn't tell me._

_"Come on," I urged him. "I need to hear it."_

_"Well…" he hesitated. I absolutely hated it when people hesitated in telling me anything, even bad news. There was only one person who could shamelessly blurt out all events, gruesome or not, only because he knew it would fill up a gaping hole in my head._

_"Come _on_, Peeta," I said impatiently. "What is the matter?"_

_"Prim is dead," he burst out, and as I gave a loud cry I noticed that his face began to change. His facial features became contorted and his nose twitched and I screamed, backing into a corner and shutting my eyes. When I opened them again, my little sister was standing in front of me._

_My baby sister._

_"Prim!" I cried, running towards her. Instead of giving me that innocent smile I'd always loved, she gave me a cruel grin._

_"So you still miss me, huh?" I was shocked. I slid back into my corner, afraid of what Prim was going to say. Was she angry with me…angry at me for being best friends with her killer?_

_"Did you always blame him? Did you always blame him for my death?" She cackled, getting closer and closer to me. Her breath smelled of fresh blood._

_"Prim…Prim, what happened to you?"_

_The expression on her face turned a one-eighty in less than a second. Now all I saw was the grief I'd been used to seeing when our family was in poor condition._

_"You thought it was his bomb," she told me, and I started walking to her again._

_"It _was _his bomb," I confirmed, holding out my hand for her to take. "Come with me, Prim." I didn't know where I was going to take her._

_She only shook her head sadly. "It wasn't his bomb, Katniss. It wasn't his bomb. His bomb was harmless…it was Beetee which added something to it, making it a death list of so many. You can't take me anywhere. I'm all in your head." I dropped my hand, surprised, and was about to reply when I saw she had something else to say._

_"But since you believed it was his fault, I must punish him."_

_Slowly, a feeling of dread crept into my nerves._

_"No," I started, "You can't kill him, Prim – "_

_"But I have to," she told me stubbornly. "He killed _me_…"_

_"But you just said – " I protested, and then stopped in horror as I saw him, tied up in ropes, hanging from the endlessly high ceiling of the white room. He was shouting at me from above and trying to free himself of the ropes, but where would he go? Would this be the last time I'd ever see his perfect face? An abyss below him opened slowly, and I started to panic and run at Prim._

_"Gale, Gale!" I screamed. "Prim, don't kill him!"_

_But it was too late. One sharp look from Prim and the rope cut itself…_

I screeched and jumped out of the bed. It took me a few moments to realize that I wasn't indeed in a claustrophobic white room but instead in a safe house with my loved ones.

I was shaking violently and could barely climb back into bed. Images of Gale flashed into my head, and I wiped away the tears that were trailing down my cheeks. Without thinking, I ran out the doors, down the hallway, and burst into Gale's room with a pathetic whimper. It was all I could do not to let out another sob of relief when I saw his peaceful figure on the bed, lost in deep sleep.

Unfortunately, my entrance had been a little too loud and he sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes and squinting at me.

"Katniss?"

I let out a deep, shuddering breath, using my utmost control to not cry again, but Gale had already realized that I was shaken like never before.

He slowly got down from bed and took cautious steps towards me. I looked him in the face, his messed up hair and worried look and rumpled clothes, and in moments he enveloped me in his arms. All the emotions came flowing out of me and I cried into his chest as he held me and stroked my hair and whispered soothing things into my ear.

When he tried pulling back, I only clenched his shirt harder, so he picked up my half-asleep figure and lowered me gently onto his bed. I shivered slightly, barely remembering the end of my dream, when I felt a comforting handing holding mine. I laced my fingers through his, grateful for the warmth, and fell into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

><p>I was startled awake by a yell. I blinked, realizing that Gale and I were still holding hands. He'd fallen sleep leaning back against the wall sitting down, and hadn't stirred.<p>

It felt horrible having to wake him up twice in a few hours, but I shook him as softly as I could and he groaned and stretched his back.

"Mornin' Catnip," he said, smiling cockily, and I couldn't help but smile back. Another yell brought me back to reality, and Gale and I jumped out of bed and went running to the kitchen.

"Annie?" I called. "Annie!"

Gale was already gone, looking in another room. I turned around to find him when I sighted Annie, hysterical, at the open front door.

She ran out and I followed her, rushing to her aid. Annie fell to her knees with a moan just as a van drove into the distance and I took her by the shoulders.

"Annie, what's wrong?" I asked urgently. "Who was that?"

"The damn mobmen," she sobbed, clutching her head in her hands. "And they took Jax."

**102 reviews! You guys rock Gale's peacock! (Yes, I've been listening to Katy Perry.) (As in Gale Hawthorne's peacock, not mine. I don't have a peacock, in case yall were wondering.)**

**Am I safe to say that the real action starts next chapter? OH YES. A nice cliffhanger for my favorite readers. I'm so glad you guys have been hanging in there through these somewhat maybe boring chapters...so thank you so much!**

**One last thing...Galeniss is WAY better than Peeniss, if ya ever want that as an argument point against your Peetalover friends.**

**I PROMISE action next chapter. Promise promise promise. Pinky promise and cross my heart. Love, Gale**


	11. The Edge

**Hey guys! Thanks so much for the reviews and faves and alerts, I love you guys SO MUCH. I hope you know that.**

**And I'm super super sorry about the delay. Wanna guess? Starts with SCHOO and ends with L. You guessed it.**

"I'm going after them." Gale stomped out the door with a foolishly brave, decisive look. I immediately took his lead and followed him to the truck after giving Annie a quick hug and a small, reassuring speech. She cried and waved after me, thanking us and yelling at us to stay safe.

"Where the hell do you think you're going, Katniss?" Gale sounded angry. He opened my door and gestured outside.

"Uh, Gale, I'm going with you to rescue Jax," I snapped. "Have a problem with that?"

Gale was obviously losing his patience, fast. "Get out of the car. Right now. You're not going to risk your life again...you've had enough danger in your life. Go back and keep Annie company."

"Gale Hawthorne." I slid out of my seat and came to stand in front of him. We were too close to each other...I could smell his delicious orange smell. I stared hard into his eyes.

"I am going with you no matter what. You can try to kick me out or shove me aside but I will ALWAYS find a way to get back in that car you stole. Got that?"

He struggled to keep his calm for a moment, grumbled, and moved back, holding the door open.

"Fine. Get in. Don't make me regret this."

"Just watch, Soldier Hawthorne, it'll be _you _needing your life saved." He shook his head, smirked, and jammed his army paperclip thing into the Doc Manager (Upload)car. The engine started with a whir and he slammed his foot ungraciously onto the pedal and the car bounced onto the road, trailing only a mile behind the enemy.

The mobmen had taken a road that Gale obviously didn't know well; he turned and smashed the brake so many times that I found I was praying for my life for the first time.

"Drive a bit more cautiously!" I hissed, pulling my seat belt tighter. "If we want to save Jax, we shouldn't get ourselves killed first!"

"I know," he shot back. "But how are we going to save him if we don't go double speed? We'll never catch up to those bastards!"

I frowned and looked down at my hands. Annie was depending on us to get back her son. How could those men be so heartless? Jax was merely a year old. He hadn't even seen the beginning of his life yet, and they were snatching him away just so they could kill someone else. I felt like my heart was dropping into a pit. One day I was losing a sweet boy I'd barely known yet I somehow felt attached to, and one night I was losing another sweet boy who was hiding hysterical emotions in his closed-off heart...

One look at his face and I knew that he could never be more agitated. Beads of sweat glowed on his forehead and his teeth were clenched, clenched so hard I felt they would snap in half if he pressured them any more. He kept his eyes on the road and took deep breaths, willing himself not to blow up. I tried putting a hand on his shoulder but he shook it off, becoming even more flustered.

I was finally forced to try to use my brilliant words to pacify him. "Gale. Gale? Calm down there. Don't get us into an accident! Annie is counting on us! We need to get Jax back safely!"

"I can't," he muttered. "I already killed a child. I can't kill another." His forehead was creased and he looked like he was about to cry, except in desperation and fear rather than anguish.

And now I finally realized what he'd been hiding inside him that I'd been too blind to see. Gale was shameful. He felt shameful about knowing that whenever I looked at him from that day on I'd connect him to my sister's death. He felt shameful about that bomb he made that supposedly killed Prim, and because he was shameful, he wasn't eating. I'd known all the time that he'd feel horrible for what he'd done, but I'd greatly underestimated the impact on his life. I thought he'd forget it in a few months.

Gale was weak. That's why he was so thin - he'd been near-starving himself because inside he was angry at his cruel actions. He thought about it night and day and nothing could take his mind off it or palliate the pain that he felt about killing his best friend's sister. But after seeing my horrendous dream, I wasn't even sure about its truth anymore. What if that bomb hadn't been his?

But it was no time to think about anything like that. Jax was in danger, and I knew if Jax wasn't in safe hands as soon as possible, Gale would do something drastic that would take him away from this world. Shut him away from his family, his friends...hide him away from me.

"Nonsense, Gale," I stuttered, trying to draw his attention elsewhere. "It wasn't your fault. Come on now, let's find them fast."

"I'm sorry, Katniss," he mumbled. "I didn't mean to design the bomb. War made me crazy. And worse, there's no way to make it up to you. Absolutely no way. I took away a special life."

For the first time, I was at a loss for words. I scratched my head and opened my mouth, when something else distracted me completely. "Gale!" I shrieked, pointing straight ahead of us on the dusty road. The trees were almost gone by now, and we were on a dirt road headed straight towards the edge of a steep mountain. There was a blood red van with the windows half-broken visible a few hundred meters ahead.

Gale must have saw it too, because he pressed the pedal harder and the tires screeched as he swerved onto the road. My heart was about to beat out of my chest - the wheels were a couple feet from the edge of the road...one mistake, and we would drop thousands of feet into the jagged rocks that were protruding threateningly from the morning mist below.

"Take my gun," he ordered. I was glued to my seat, unable to move, speak, or to think. My eyes were squeezed shut and I didn't even notice that we were slowly approaching the enemy van.

"KATNISS!" He snapped me out of my miserable thoughts. "Get the damn gun out of my pocket! They're getting closer! We only have one chance!"

"Gale!" I gasped. "Are you thinking of shooting their tires? The van will fall! And Jax is in it!"

"No," he replied quickly. "They don't know we're chasing them, which explains the leisurely pace. Shooting their back window will slow them down when we're close enough. I can grab Jax, and _then _you can shoot the tires."

I gulped. "Are you sure this is going to work?"

He turned around to look me in the eyes. His lips were set in a determined line - he wasn't going to let this chance go.

"Trust me." I nodded.

The van was now only thirty or so feet ahead of us. I followed Gale's instructions and pulled the gun out of his pocket, trying to avoid looking out his window at the deadly spikes below. I opened the window, aimed, and pulled the trigger, landing a perfect shot on their back window.

"Perfect," he muttered, slamming on the brakes. I screamed and scrunched up into a tight ball, as if that would save my life if we went over the edge. The car turned a ninety-degree angle and landed perpendicular to the road. Gale grabbed his gun from me and ran out the door, reaching the van in seconds, in which the driver was trying to point a gun at Gale and drive at the same time.

For the first time, I prayed for Gale. I prayed for his life and I prayed that he would avoid all the bullets and just get Jax so we could go back to safety, even if it was for a few days.

Gale dodged the first bullet, and I heard the driver swear angrily and slow to a stop. I got out of the car and rushed towards the ruckus just as my best friend dived into the van through the broken back window, landing on the second man but missing the first. The driver sneered and pushed the gun onto Gale's head.

"I have no use for you, soldier. What I want..." I saw his ugly lips close to Gale's ear - "...is the Mockingjay. Hand her over, and you and the baby leave scot-free."

Gale's face was contorted in anger and pain. Both he and I knew that he could either save the child or save me, and he could never live with himself if he let either die.

I ran closer and saw Jax, who was whimpering in the corner. He was too scared to climb out of the window, and I couldn't blame him...he was only a year old, and the man that Gale was sitting on would still have the strength to grab him and throw him out of the van mercilessly.

"Let go of him," I screamed at the driver, but he only laughed mockingly, eyeing my weaponless, thin figure.

"So, is that a deal?" He went back to putting his disgusting lips near Gale's ear. I could almost smell his disgusting breath. The man below Gale struggled and Gale elbowed him hard in the back, making him squirm and swear.

"No," he hissed. "Here's the deal. I get the baby and leave scot-free, but you will _never _get the Mockingjay." With swift motions, he grabbed his gun out of nowhere, pointed straight at me, and shot.

**Yes yes yes cliffhanger? Reviews, please, they're loved!**

**You guys are marvelous.**

**Hugs & kisses. Gale **


	12. Greatest Desire

**AWW, YOU GUYS. You guys are so sweet in your reviews...thanks each and every one! I will thank all of you at the end of this chapter, because this is the last chapter.**

**Just kidding.**

**I had to do that. Sorry. On with the ridiculous cliffhanger.**

I froze. I'd never been hit with a bullet before, but I'd been so close during the war I could imagine what it would have felt like. The shock would come first, and then the searing pain. I lowered my head slowly, afraid to look at my leg, almost shielding my eyes instinctively. Instead, I forced myself to stare at my leg, the blood dripping slowly onto the ground.

Gale had shot me. I searched my leg for the bullet, but somehow I couldn't find it. It was then I looked back and saw it wedged in the front car seat, the front window of the car completely shattered. He'd only grazed my skin, and the worst thing was, I didn't know whether he'd meant to hit me or not. If he hadn't wanted to hurt me, it would have been excused as an accident but if he _had _wanted to shoot me he would have failed...

Then came the pain. Whether or not the bullet was actually in me, it didn't matter - it was still a high-speed object which had taken some of my skin with it as it flew into something else. I gritted my teeth as I clutched my leg. Somehow I dared myself to look at Gale's face, but in the end, I was glad I had. He was motioning to me with vigorous facial expressions, and it took me a few seconds to understand what he was trying to say.

_Act. Act like it hurts more than it does. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Katniss, I'm sorry._

I ignored all the emotions bubbling up inside me and obeyed, whining and falling to the ground with a horrid expression on my face. A glance at the man next to Gale told me that he was just as startled by his move as I was.

"So you shot Mockingjay, eh?" **(a/n: YEA CANADIANS!)**

Gale was starting to lose his calm. The longer he looked at my bleeding leg, the more anxious and fidgety he became. He stared at the mugger with blank eyes, groping for wise words. I looked at Jax, who was petrified. He was scrunched up in the corner, as still as a rock. I wanted to run to him and lift him out of the vehicle and tell him it was okay, but I knew my efforts would prove useless.

"Yes. Yes, I did. You can have her." Gale's voice was calm and dangerous. Now he looked sure of himself, with that fire in his eyes that had always been there. He was frowning and his eyebrows were creased in that way I knew so well - he was angry and he would show it.

"But now that I handed her over to you, you must give me the baby."

The ugly man just laughed. "You thought I'd really strike a deal with someone like _you_?" he snorted, accidentally lowering his gun from Gale's head for a millisecond, trying to display his superiority.

But for Gale, a millisecond was enough. With a yowl of rage, he slammed himself down on top of the man, knocking the gun down from his hand. Unfortunately, it rolled towards Jax, who screamed and slapped it out of the van itself. It skittered onto the ground, dangerously close to the edge, and slid into the sharp rocks below. The man who Gale had been suffocating was now completely blacked out, and a knife fell out of his pocket onto the gravel.

"You can't get me _that _easily," the man laughed, throwing Gale easily onto the side of the car. Then came the most painful part - the weaponless combat. Mugger punched Gale over, and over, and over again, and each time he let out a yell my heart broke a little more inside. I couldn't lie still after the third yell, so I crawled soundlessly towards the wheel, next to which a knife lay. When I was close enough, I reached for it, grabbed it, and tried my best to stand up. My leg was now cramping up and I couldn't feel it anymore, but I did my best to ignore the discomfort, hung onto the edge of the van for support, and pulled myself up. The murderer was too drowned in his own glee to notice me as he slowly sucked the life out of Gale, which took my fury to a new level.

I was about to spear the knife right into his side when I saw his body get thrust backwards, almost knocking me off balance. Gale must have gotten some of his strength back. The mobman roared, kneeing the unconscious man in the stomach, and pounced onto Gale, who threw him backwards with a kick. I took one look at him and I knew it was the last that he could do - he'd used up every bit of his strength and if the man didn't die immediately, my best friend would be at his mercy.

And then I was hit with the second realization that I'd been too absurdly blind to see.

_I still cared about him._

I always would, too. Just like he winced every time I hurt, I couldn't stand the moments he was in pain or even in danger. Every time he frowned, I braced myself for the worst and every time he grinned, I couldn't help but smile back.

So I used all the energy in my body, raised my knife, and scrabbled towards him with a scream. He whirled towards me, surprised, and I took that moment to plunge the knife into his disgusting body. Blood spurted out of the wound as he stiffened in shock and fell with a gurgle.

I let out a cry that had been struggling to get out of my throat, crawled over to Jax, and hugged him tightly to me. I took deep breaths, willing myself to stay strong for him as he sobbed onto my shirt. I squeezed him and rocked him back and forth, whispering comforting words to him. After a while, he'd calmed down so I sat him down on the remaining unharmed seat and limped over to Gale as quickly as I could. He was half conscious, and I could tell he was having difficulty breathing.

He looked like a wreck - there was blood leaking out of his mouth, bruises all over his face and body, and the black eye didn't make it any better. But somehow, he had that princely look that no one I'd ever seen could pull off. His mouth was set in a straight, stubborn line and his fists were still clenched.

When I touched his arm, he flinched, but then relaxed when he figured out it was me. With his eyes still closed, he let out a whisper that I had to lean down closer to hear.

"I'm sorry I hurt you, Catnip. It was all I could do...to save...both of you."

I couldn't help it...my lip began to tremble. The life I'd had with Gale flashed before my eyes - hunting in the woods, sitting for hours on a rock doing nothing, feeding berries to each other - I couldn't take it anymore. I cradled his head in my arms and let the tears flow.

* * *

><p>"Let's go," Jax's thin, trembling voice said from behind me. I opened my eyes, turned around, and saw in alarm that the other mobman was starting to stir. I quickly grabbed a box from below a seat and hit him as hard as I could on the head. He groaned and fell back into a stupor.<p>

"Yes, sweetie, we'll leave in a moment." I turned to Gale and gently wiped the blood from his mouth. "Can you get up?" He nodded and I pulled him up to a sitting position. He groaned and stretched, gritting his teeth as he hit a painful position.

Jax was already up and out of the van. "I wanna go." He started walking off, and I called to him worriedly.

"Wait, Jax! We'll be there in a moment! Don't go anywhere!" He pouted and looked towards the edge of the cliff.

"I'm alive," Gale said in surprise, looking at his hands in wonder. His voice was faint.

"You owe me one," I smirked, hiding the intense relief that I felt. Just the fact that he could talking lightened up my mood considerably. He might actually be okay.

"I do owe you one," he agreed, trying to get up by himself and failing. I took his arm and we worked together to move to the edge of the van. "What would you like?"

What I said then surprised me more than anything else. Without a single thought or a moment to rethink my desire, I blurted out exactly what was on my mind. "A kiss."

Gale laughed softly. "Yeah?"

I blushed furiously, but before I had a chance to take back my words he cupped my cheek and put his lips on mine. He tasted like...fire, like sweet desire, like the things I'd always wanted my whole life. I never felt that hunger that I'd felt when with Peeta, that hunger for life. I didn't feel like I needed Gale's kiss to live or to make sure I wouldn't go mad...I only felt _desire_. I didn't need that kiss by any means to make sure I wasn't going mad or to save my life. No, I definitely did not need that kiss. I _wanted _it.

So I combed my fingers through his hair and kissed him back with no regret.

**Sooo...how did you guys like it? ;) I'd love to know through reviews...hehe, thanks so much!**

**And oh yes I'd love to give shout-outs of thanks to the following people: (I'll put in nicknames because I'm too lazy to actually write down the entire user...)**

**Sapphire Wych (ESPECIALLY her because she reads over every chapter and puts in her...input before I publish! :3), ****Twix, ****Ellenka, ****ESTrunk, ****Bacon, ****Zoie, ****Cloud, ****BookAddiction, ****Viking Girl, ****MsRSX, ****Sarah, ****Gale's#1Fan, ****Analyn, ****Kiwi, ****Rachel, Callie, ****Awesome, ****Granger, ****Hobbie, ****L. S. Cullen, ****GKRSCPSALK, ****Gale143.**

**If you guys are still following the story, thank you so much...I owe you guys hugely, it's your encouragement that keeps me going all the time...thank you so much! :)**

**Have an ahmazing week. Other than homework. Ew. xoxo Gale**


	13. Broken Down

**So the funniest thing about this chapter. Since we had a lot of action previously, Imma make it just a BIT lighter. But the funniest thing is HOW I wrote it and WHEN I wrote it...I pretty much ninja'd between studying for three subjects. Whenever I was within five meters of a computer, I grabbed it and wrote a paragraph before going back to what I was doing.**

**Pretty ninja, right? Right.**

The bliss didn't last too long. Gale, whose hand was lovingly caressing my cheek, was the first to pull away. He gently disentangled himself from me. "We shouldn't be doing this," he murmured. "I killed your sister..."

"No, you didn't," I told him quietly, hesitating. I really didn't want to explain my disturbing dream to him and worry him needlessly, and yet I needed him to know that the guilt he'd been feeling all these years was in vain.

He only shook his head and pointed a shaking hand towards Jax. "Make sure he doesn't walk off."

I bit my lip, turned away, and ran to catch up with Annie's son. "Don't leave, Jax!" I urged him to stop walking by tugging on his shirt and tossing him up into my arms. "We'll leave together."

With Jax on my hip, I walked over to Gale and helped him down from the van as best I could. Before he could fall over himself, I grabbed his hand to steady him and he clutched it with relief. We leaned on each other and somehow made it back to the car. Gale made it with difficulty onto the backseat, and I carefully placed Jax next to him. As long as Gale was sitting there in the backseat, I had absolutely no worries about losing Jax again.

I'd barely ever driven before, so the drive back to secure land was terrifying. My hands shook...one mistake and we would fall into the flames of Hell below. Rocks fell off the side and I swerved to the left, moving as far away as possible from death.

When the car finally bounced onto the gravel at the end of the road, I heaved a sigh of relief and proceeded to drive the three of us, safe as could be, back to Annie's house.

* * *

><p>Unfortunately, fate decided that this wasn't the case. Midway between the dusty road that we were cruising on and Annie's safe haven the car began to rumble in a frightening way. I pushed as hard as I could on the brakes, but the car was slowing down, so I screeched to a stop at the side of the road.<p>

"God damn it," Gale stated flatly. He turned to look at Jax, who was snoring softly with his head on Gale's lap. I reprimanded him for his language in front of a young child, however asleep he may be, and realized that there was no way back to Annie's house now.

"What will we do, Gale?" I groaned, banging my head on the steering wheel and letting out a blaring horn, which died with a sick squeak in a matter of seconds. We'd probably have to pay the owner the entire price of the car once he hunted us down.

"I guess we could hitch a ride," he suggested. "Find someone that looks nice."

I rolled my eyes and dragged myself out of the broken car, trying to follow the speeding vehicles with my eyes and wave one down with an attractive scream before they got away. I'd expected many to stop at a time, considering I was the Mockingjay and I'd pretty much saved the country. **(Kat's self-importance from the third book is kicking in, huh? ;P)**

No cars obliged. Instead, they seemed to move faster, kicking up dust and making me squirm and cough. With an annoyed grumble, I stomped back to the car and slumped down into the driver's seat.

"The stupid people won't use their eyes and ears."

Gale laughed. "I'll give it a try," he told me, slowly easing himself out of his seat. I rushed to the backseat to take Jax while Gale hobbled up to edge of the road and lifted his hand to call for anyone to stop -

Before he had a chance to raise his hand fully, a bright red car pulled up in front of him. The window rolled down and a girl who looked like a barbie doll stuck her head out with a disgusting, greedy look on her face.

"Are you okay?" she asked breathlessly, and then her pupils dilated and her mouth hung slightly open. "You're...you're Soldier Hawthorne!"

"Yeah, that's me," Gale said wearily, obviously not entirely pleased to be known by his more famous name. "Hey, can you do us a huge favor...?"

"Call me Aloya," the girl swooned, flipping her hair obnoxiously. "And who's _we_?" I felt like throwing up...I'd seen too many girls fall apart because of my best friend.

"Me," I said as sternly as I could, arriving next to Gale with Jax in my arms. I glanced at Gale's face but thankfully it was one of grave curiosity rather a flirty smile. "And this little boy who's been placed in my care."

If Aloya's eyes had gotten any bigger, her eyes probably would have popped out of their sockets. "M-m-mockingjay? It's Katniss Everdeen! What are you guys doing here?"

"Our car broke down," Gale explained. "Could you please drive us back to a friend's house?"

The irritating smile returned to her face, and she nodded sanguinely. "Duh!" She shot me a look askance and I glared back as menacingly as I could without opening my mouth to release a string of insults. Gale limped over to the back of the car, refusing Aloya's help, took Jax from me, and sat down in the backseat.

Barbie doll, with a slightly disappointed sigh, got in the front seat and I hurried over to sit in the passenger seat, as much as I couldn't stand her perfectly shaped shiny blonde hair and long, luscious eyelashes. The ride had to be the most uncomfortable I'd experienced in my life. No one spoke except Barbie, bombing Gale with question after question and then not waiting for an answer, and at times Gale with helpful directions towards Annie's house.

Somehow, Barbie managed to find the house and pull up to the driveway. The familiar front yard made me throw my head back with satisfaction and turn towards the driver with a bright smile. "Thanks," I said cheerfully, ignoring the confused look on her face, grabbed Gale and Jax, and rushed to Annie's front door.

"Nice to meet you, Soldier Hawthorne!" she called behind us. "...and you too, Mockingjay," she added after seeing my dirty look. Gale saluted her and watched her melt for a moment, then followed Jax, who was now awake and giddily hopping ahead of us, eager to see his mother again. He galloped up the steps and banged on the front door.

Gale grinned and leaned against me with one arm on my shoulder, obviously in pain but not showing it. I supported his weight and waited for someone to open the front door.

The door creaked open, and I opened my mouth, about to shout Annie's name. Instead, I froze and stared at the jubilant figure in the doorway.

"Katniss!" Peeta shouted with joy, about to jump down from the porch to greet me, when his eyes fell on Gale and the smile faltered.

**Meeehhhh...that was more of a filler chapter. Since that was a filler chapter, I PROMISE I will update next weeeekkkk! Pinky pinky promise! If I haven't replied to your PM's, I definitely will tomorrow or the next day! I'm so sorry I've just been so busy! D:**

**And thanks SO MUCH for the ahhhhmazing reviews and for faveing and alerting me and my story! I LOVE YOU GUYS! -super huge virtual hug- Hehehehehe.**

**Have a superduperfabulous week!**

**xoxo. Gale**

**P.S. I knoooow this chapter probably didn't live up to your expectations but I'd appreciate reviews anyway! LOL**


	14. Unnecessary Drama

**OMIGOD I'M SO SORRY I TOOK SO LONG TO UPDATE.**

**I really am sorry. You know the reason...we're not going to go over this drill today. And to make up for it, imma make Kat's life suck a bit more in this chapter for you to brood over. Love you all :)**

Gale tensed against me. I wanted to tell him it was okay but the look on my face obviously made him even more uncomfortable. Peeta's mouth hung half open as he looked from me to Gale, and then back to me. I decided to shatter the silence with a stupid lie of an act.

"PEETA! I'm so glad you're okay!" I shouted, running over to him and throwing my arms around him. Of course I was relieved to see that he was alive, but I didn't want him to know under any circumstances about the thunderstorm of feelings in my head.

I heard him give an uncomfortable laugh, but he squeezed me tightly. "Me too," he whispered in my ear and I shivered, hoping that Gale had managed to hang on to something when I left him for this ridiculous drama.

"How's Mom?" I asked, pulling back. "She's with you, right?" When Peeta looked down, a terror slowly filled my heart. I stopped moving and could only look into his flat, blue eyes.

Then his face broke into a smile. "Of course she's with me. What did you think, Katniss? That I couldn't take care of your mother? She's almost as important to me as you are!"

I couldn't help but grin, and my smile widened when my mother came to the door with cry of relief. "Kat! You're okay!" I nodded, overwhelmed, and ran to her. My mother and I had barely ever exchanged hugs, but once I was in her arms I never wanted to let go. "Does this mean..." she said in a soft voice - "...you have to go back there?"

I frowned and looked at her meaningfully. "Mom, you know I have to kill Snow's twin," I told her quietly. "I'll be absolutely fine. Haven't I survived for so long out in the wild with madmen after me?"

"You were alone?" she gasped, and I shook my head.

"No...Gale was with me all the way." She sighed again, nodding, and looked around as Annie ushered everyone inside. She held Jax close to her chest, and I knew she would keep him latched to her for a while.

"Katniss, when you go, I'm coming with you."

"Are you out of your mind?" I hissed. "You'll get killed, Mom! I've lost everyone already...you know how precious you are to me!"

"Then take Gale along," Mom said in a low voice. She knew that it would be pointless to argue with me. "I don't trust you to go by yourself, but if he's with you, I know you'll be safe."

I looked at her for a while, wanting to blurt out all the thoughts that were on my mind but my mouth stayed shut and I wasn't able to say anything. Instead, I nodded and she added, "Bring Peeta, too."

"No, I can't to that!" I said quickly, and then seeing the confusion on her face, put a hand on her shoulder. "He might get badly hurt if he comes along. You know how weak he's feeling right now. I...I love _him_, Mom, and I can't let anything happen to him!"

My mother studied my face for a moment, and then shook her head. "You're lying, Katniss."

"What?"

"You're lying." She put a hand under my chin and lifted my face. "Look into my eyes." I looked; her once pale blue eyes had now turned somewhat darker, and there was a defiance there that I'd never seen before...a fire that had never been there until now.

"You can't lie to your mother, Kat," she murmured. "I know you know very well that he won't get hurt because he's strong." I let out a breath and closed my eyes, thankful that she hadn't heard anything else in my words. "You're just worried about him."

I shook my head in agreement. "You're right, Mom, I'm just worried. Under no circumstances do I want to lose the one I love. I'm so glad you understand."

"I don't understand why you're still lying to me," she groaned, frustrated.

"What do you mean?" I asked, my hands beginning to grow cold and clammy.

"Kat, I've known the truth you've been hiding all along. Your heart isn't with Peeta...it's with someone else."

* * *

><p>The night passed quickly. The moment I hit my head on my pillow, blackness overtook me and I fell into a fitful sleep until the early morning, refusing to rethink any of the words that had passed between myself and my mother the night before.<p>

The peacefulness ended when something thumped against my worn-out butt.

"Breakfast time, sleepyhead," Peeta swooned, walking over to me and putting his hand on my cheek. I unconsciously swatted it away and buried my head back under my pillow. "Five minutes."

"Katniss." He sat down next to me, and I forced myself to face him.

"Good morning, Peeta."

"Katniss."

I rubbed my eyes and sat up with a grumble.

"You should eat quickly...we're going to leave in less than an hour."

That got my eyes to open. "What do you mean, _we_?" I asked him anxiously. "_You're _not going anywhere. You're staying right here, safe and sound with everyone else."

"And let you go alone? Are you crazy?" he said incredulously. "There's no one I trust to go with you more than myself. I'd give up my life for you Katniss, and that is exactly what I intend to do now."

Guilt slapped me in the face. I was going to inform him that he should begin to trust Gale as well, but I decided not to hurt him just for the fact that he loved me so much and would care for me until I was in my grave.

"All right," I said, giving up. "But you do know that Gale's coming too, right?"

His face darkened, and I almost regretted telling him. "Annie treated Gale yesterday so his injuries have healed significantly." The expression on his face hadn't changed, although he tried to smile.

"There's nothing going on between us," I assured him.

"No, no, I knew that, don't worry," he laughed airily, waving it off.

"Really, there isn't!" I didn't know why I was trying to pacify him when I could have just kept my mouth shut. Maybe I was trying to make myself believe the lies that I couldn't stop pouring out. Leaving him on the bed, I hurried into the bathroom and banged the door shut, taking a few deep breaths to calm myself.

When I looked in the mirror, I couldn't even recognize myself anymore. A few weeks ago I'd been the girl with the fiery look in her eyes, the rare but clever smile, and the stance that could threaten anything that came near her. Now all I saw was a jaded, defeated but more mature woman who, at the moment, badly needed someone by her side to share her pain yet at the same time tell her it was all right. Yet was it so mature to keep denying the truth and create a dishonest cover for someone who really loved me? How long could I hold off telling him anyway?

I heard voices in the background and someone walk off. Seconds later there was a knock at my door and the one voice I'd hoped not to hear just out of sheer guilt.

"Come on out, Katniss. I grabbed your breakfast. We need to leave right now." I squeezed my eyes shut and slid down against the door, trying to reply.

"I'm...I'm coming," I said in a hoarse voice, willing myself to stand up and cautiously put my hand on the doorknob.

"Catnip? Are you all right?" _No, Gale, I'm not. But I still have to stay strong and pretend I'm all right so that you and Peeta don't start worrying. _I knew by the nickname that he was alone in the room. I opened the door and started walking out of the room, avoiding his face. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not," he retorted, but I was halfway across the hallway before he could say another word.

"Let's go," I ushered, turning back and looking at him. "We've got a president to kill."

**Kat trying to sort out her feelings right there ^^ don't worry, the big blowup will come soon enough ;) Next chapter there will be some awesometastic action. Well. As long as I'm able to write it right XD PUN!**

**Oh and about the reviews...THANK YOU SO MUCH. You guys make my life, you know that? Well in case you didn't know that you know that now. And interestingly, I had quite a few new reviewers randomly review the last chapter...LOL thank you guys so much, I'm so glad you're enjoying it! :) The more readers the better, right?**

**Have a fantastic rest of the weekend. Love, Gale~**


	15. Mental Wounds

**Hehehe, thanks guyyyys, I really appreciate all the reviews and the reading and the fave-ing and the alerting me and my story! All your reviews are thoughtful...thank youu so much! ;33**

**To show my intense appreciation, I shalt writeth one morest chaptereth.**

"Be careful." Peeta pulled the door of Annie's car open for me, and I reluctantly climbed into the back seat, not exactly wanting him to sit next to me. "It'll be better that I'm driving...I know for a fact that I won't get us into any accidents."

"Wait..._you're _driving?" I asked uncomfortably. "Wasn't Gale supposed to...?"

"Since when were you supposed to drive, Peeta?" Gale asked stiffly. "I think that I should drive."

"It's okay, Soldier Hawthorne," my fiancee almost sneered back. "Take a break...I think you've done enough for the time being."

Grudgingly, Gale climbed into the backseat next to me and slammed the door shut as Peeta sat on the driver's seat, tenderly put a foot on the pedal, and caressed the steering wheel with his right hand. "How long it's been since I've driven a car," he murmured in wonder, and I nudged Gale when I saw him roll his eyes. He gave me a quick smile.

To keep our privacy, Gale and I put shades over the back windows while Peeta drove carefully onto the highway. I had been riding in a bumpy car for so many hours of so many days now that I was completely used to the rattling and shaking of the vehicles.

There was utter silence in the car. Once in a while, Gale would crack a joke to break the tension and I would laugh softly, but Peeta was concentrating too hard on the road to reply and the awkward conversation would dissolve into silence again.

Two hours later, our driver finally managed to open his mouth. "So. What's the plan?"

"I don't have one...do you?" I turned to Gale. I realized that I hadn't thought of anything but shelter for the last few days - the job of killing Snow's twin had completely left my mind for a while.

He shrugged. "I think that all three of us should reach the front of the New Capitol. Either Peeta or I will distract the soldiers outside while the other goes in with Katniss, helping her kill or simply get through the workers inside; Katniss, you should be the one to kill Cullen." I took a deep breath and nodded, taking all the information in. I knew that I would end up with the job of ridding Panem of the tyrant, but I knew that it would be pointless to take either Peeta or Gale with me because I cared about both of them too much. Besides, I had put Gale in enough danger in the past few days, even though I knew that neither one of us could survive without the other.

"I agree," I said, nodding towards the road. "We should be in there in a little bit."

"I'll stick to Katniss until she's ready to shoot Cullen," Peeta offered. "I think she'd be safest with me, since we've been through the Hunger Games and all, isn't that right, Katniss?"

I wasn't ready to argue with anyone, so I sighed in response, which Peeta took to be a "yes". My mind was too cluttered with worries...what if I was killed myself before being able to do away with the president? Would my mother be in danger? Would Gale be in danger?

If Gale was displeased by Peeta's suggestion, he didn't show it. He only made a gesture of approval and stared at his hands in silence. I put a reassuring hand on his arm, but it didn't do much to help his mood, which I knew was darkened by the change of events. Gale thought that he would have kept me safe inside the Capitol so I could execute the president without having to fear death. And I couldn't tell him either that I felt safe in his arms, by his side, standing and fighting next to him because Peeta's presence would only unnecessarily complicate matters. The entire thing could be sorted out _after _Cullen was killed.

I felt like throwing up when the New Capitol with its perfect ultra-whitish-pink shine, and only when Gale put his hand on mine for comfort did I realize that my hand had still been resting comfortably on his arm for hours. He squeezed once and I gave him a nervous grin, which didn't convince him at all that I was okay.

* * *

><p>"Where should I park?" Peeta turned right on a road I'd never seen before, and I quickly made him turn back around onto the main street.<p>

"Park somewhere the car can be _seen_," I told him.

"Are you nuts?" he snapped. "Do you _want _to be caught and killed?"

"No, Peeta, it's because we need a distraction. If a car with shades suddenly pull up in front of all the soldiers in the front courtyard of the New Capitol, the soldiers will all immediately attack. I really don't want to have to murder them..." Gale paused, and I knew how it felt for him to work against his comrades.

"All right." Peeta pulled to a stop at the side of the road and got out, opening the back door. "It's your turn to drive, Gale."

Gale shook his head and climbed out after gently returning my hand to my lap. He plopped into the driver's seat, placed his hands on the steering wheel, and took a deep breath.

"Sunglasses?"

I took the sunglasses I'd been cradling in my arms and handed them Gale. He put them on and flashed me a big smile with his pearly white teeth, and I couldn't help but laugh and gape at the same time. Now I could see why my best friend could attract girls from anywhere.

"Good luck," I whispered and reached through the open window to hug him tightly, squeezing my eyes shut and praying to God for the first time that I'd be able to see him again. It seemed a very long time before he finally detached me from him and wished me luck with a sincere look. Then he proceeded to roll up his window, turn on the headlights and loud music, and coast slowly into the courtyard.

Peeta was left staring at me, so I grabbed his hand and we ran to the wall where Gale and I had first gotten caught with the mobmen. Tiptoeing closer to the courtyard, we watched Gale's every move until the time was exactly right.

Only a few soldiers noticed at first, but then the music was too loud to bear. Many of them groaned and covered their ears, and I wondered how Gale could possibly stand it inside. By this time, most of the soldiers in the front were staring at the ordinary car with the glaring headlights and blasting music, but they didn't budge.

Then the window came rolling down...Gale's face appeared, followed by his most treasured gun and five startling shots in the air.

That did it.

The soldiers, bewildered, began to converse among themselves and some even went running to the car with their guns, obviously not realizing that the person in the car was their "ally". Some soldiers, however, decided to sit stubbornly at the front, which made entering the building a problem.

"Peeta," I hissed, "distract the others. I can go in by myself."

"Katniss, you're out of your mind," he replied. "We can sneak in through the back or a window..."

"You really think they're going to keep windows open in the _New Capitol _building?"

"Well..."

"Distract them." Before he could protest, I pushed him into the open. He started screaming and running in circles, shooting bullets in the air. The entire scene distracted a few of the last soldiers in front of the door, and I managed to dash the last few feet to the building, through the doors, and into the lobby. The last thing I saw before I left was Gale getting out of the car, pointing to Peeta and explaining something to the other soldiers.

The inside of the New Capitol was exactly how I'd remembered it - except maybe doubly as creepy. The walls seemed to shake every couple of seconds and all the workers had strange, vacant looks on their faces...until they saw me. The buzz grew and I put aside all second thoughts and ran as fast as I could to the stairs, climbing to the second floor two steps at a time. Workers swarmed in behind me as I entered the long hallway, blocking my way out. It was now or never.

I whipped a gun and a knife out of my sweatshirt as I got closer and closer to the president's room. I kicked open the wooden door with a shout and looked for something to aim my gun at when I realized that there was no one in the room.

The door violently shut itself behind me and I yanked at the knob, which wouldn't budge. The lights in the room shut off and the curtains closed and all I heard was my heart pounding in my chest. A screen rolled down in front of me with Cullen's ugly face set right in the center.

"Katniss Everdeen," she cackled. "I knew you'd come back for me."

**Sooo? Creepy enough for yall? ;P Don't worry, there will be some Gale soon. And Galeniss, duh. :D**

**Thanks to all of you again for the ahhhmazing reviews. I hope you have a great break (more time to write! YAY!) and if you're feeling preppy then be sure to check out a ridiculously stupid story that I wrote last week for Sapphire Wych (it was her birthday!) It's called Peeta and the Camel. Yes, I know. It's as ridiculous as it sounds. XD**

**So yeah! That's it for this week, I hope it wasn't too terrible since I haven't run it through Sapphire..D: hehe. Well. Love you guys!**

**Gale**

**PS: Review? :)**


	16. You're The Reason I Breathe

**I AM SO SORRY YOU GUYS. I swear. I meant to update last weekend but I had so. much. freakin. homework. This weekend's load isn't any better, since I desperately need to bring my grades up, but I FINALLY found some time to write :D. So here's the next one.**

A cage enclosed me in a confined space as I yelled and tried to grab the gun and knife that had fallen out of my shirt. They slid across the ground to the other side of the room and I had no choice but to look up at the screen.

The monster's face was exactly how I'd remembered it. Ugly with wrinkled and patched red skin, and more intimidating than ever. I muttered curses and the names of my friends and family under my breath, foolishly hoping that someone would break through the door and help me out in this time of crisis.

"This is a recorded video, in case you were wondering," Cullen explained in a scratchy voice. She flipped her hair and smiled creepily at the camera, making me shudder and scoot back towards the wall. "I know you too well, Katniss Everdeen. What a young and _brave _young soul you are," she purred. "I could just _envision_ your figure, bursting through the door and trying to kill me. But honey, you're too late. Soon, your mother will be executed, and after her the two dashing young lads you have wrapped around your finger." I looked guiltily at the floor, avoiding Cullen's smirk as if she was really in front of me, taunting me.

"So Mockingjay, we decided to save you the trouble by killing you first." I perked up suddenly, staring at the screen with dread. How was Cullen planning to do away with me in her own office? Would she have her scissors attack me from her desk?

"I'll play some music for you so while you struggle for your life, a beautiful melody can accompany you. You can hear some sweet tones before you take your last breath. Sounds good, huh?" she rasped, throwing back her head and cackling wildly.

"No." I paced around the cage, trying to find something that I could use to throw at the window and break it. There was nothing in my reach and instead my eyes met a large pipe that slid out from behind the screen. The screen suddenly turned black and I strained my ear to hear a rumbling noise coming from somewhere deep below the ground. It got louder and louder and I noticed a drop of water fall to the floor, and then one more, and then one more, until there was a steady stream flowing from the pipe to the ground.

So this is what Cullen had planned for me...she wanted me to drown. The hiss of water steadily increased in volume as the waterfall became bigger. Now realizing I was hopeless, I simply sat down and mourned my life and just how unlucky I was. I thought about all the people I loved who would die because of me, and how some people would willingly give up their lives to help me. My mother would give herself up any day if it meant that I would live, and so would Gale and even Peeta.

What really angered me was the feeling of losing. I had gotten tricked by Cullen, had traveled miles and miles running away from her mobmen and then had ultimately gotten trapped in her room, slowly drowning. Pathetic.

The water was now up to my chest, and I was about to give up my life to the rising water when I realized something with a shake of my head. How could Cullen have been so stupid? How could _I _have been so stupid? Had she not known that the weapons I'd come in with were floating around in her room as the water was rising? I dunked my head below the surface and forced my eyes open, looking for the gun and the knife. The knife was floating midway between the floor and the surface, and I moved my hands in strong waves in the water, slowly edging the knife towards me. The gun was more difficult, but I decided I could do with the knife for the time being.

It crept close to the cage and I grabbed it and stood up, only to realize that the water was now at my eye level. I swum upwards with any stroke I knew, lifted a hand above the water, and threw the knife with full force at the window. A small crack appeared where the blade hit the glass, and I growled with frustration and dove back into the water. It was disgusting, with mold and dust and other contaminated objects floating around but I didn't care - I would do anything but die in this filth.

Unfortunately, I had no clue how to move the heavy gun across the entire room to me. It was slowly moving in a circle in one spot but I wouldn't be able to make simple waves to bring it to me. I moved around as frantically as I could, made the largest waves possible, and ended up banging against the bars of the metal cage and screaming but nothing helped bring any object close to me. The president had successfully taken all her small belongings with her so that nothing could help me escape from the terror of death.

Defeated, I sank down to the ground slowly. My hair, which had grown noticeably long in the last few months, gathered itself around me. My clothes felt heavy and I knew that I didn't have much breath left. Looking up, I saw that the water level had now reached higher than the top of the cage. There was no way I'd be saved now - I wouldn't even be able to throw an object at the window to try to drain the water.

A minute passed. I was now wandering around aimlessly in the cage, half-conscious and turning blue. I couldn't hold my breath much longer...half a minute and I'd pass out completely, and then die. _Bye, Mom. I'll miss you. Don't cry, I'll be with Prim now...all I want you to do is run away, far, far away so that you don't have to suffer the same fate that I did. Bye, Peeta...although I know I wasn't finally in love with you, you've been an incredible friend to me as long as I've known you. You're sweet and you always will be, so thank you for being there. Haymitch and all my friends at the Market, I will miss your humor and your comforting presence. Bye, Gale. You know all along that I'd fall for you at the end, but I never got to tell you what you needed to hear, did I? Well, I'll tell you now. I love you, and I've always loved you. You're the reason I breathe._

I shivered and put my head between my knees, scrunching up into a ball so tight that I'd end up choking myself to death. It took me a while to feel the cold air that rushed into the room as the water drained out. I looked up at a glowing white light and gasped for breath, coughing and laughing and coughing again. It didn't even matter to me that I was encaged anymore - air was all I'd hoped and wished for and someone had granted me that wish.

The water was still to my knees and I was too weak to stand up, so I leaned against the back wall and put my feet against one edge of the cage, trying to breathe normally. When I was finally recovered enough, I stood up and rubbed my eyes in time to see a very drenched Gale climb through the window. He waded through the water to the cage and I sniffled out his name and ran to the front end of the cage.

"What the hell was that?" he asked incredulously. "Did Cullen try to drown you or something? She ended up drowning her plants instead." He pointed to the garden below the window.

I nodded and tried to smile, but my lip ended up trembling instead and I turned away hastily. There was no way that I'd let Gale see me shed tears.

I should have known that he'd read me even with my back turned to him. He reached through the cage and took my hand which I clutched automatically.

"You'll be okay, Catnip. Let me try to find a way to get you out of here." I nodded silently and he sloshed through the water to the closet.

**What'll be in the closet? OOOOHHHHHH. Gasp. Gasp. Gasp. (No, the answer is not Voldemort.)**

**Oh, and wondering why I chose Cullen to DROWN her above all other things? Well. This entire chapter is actually based on a recent nightmare that I had about being drowned. It was some scary shit.**

**Yes, it was cheesy. Oh so very cheesy goodness ;3 But I do love cheesiness, don't you? Don't worry, Kat will be back to her normal self in the next chapter. At least, when she's not dying.**

**THANK YOU SO MUCH TO MY REVIEWERS. I love you all so much. Thank you, you guys make my day and my life.**

**I'm really not sure about this chapter. I hope it was okay. I hope it met your requirements, because I've had lots of people asking for the three most important words. I hope it was okay. :) [yes, I am a very worried person.]**

**Have an increeeeedible weekend.**

**xoxoxoxo. Gale**


	17. I'd Sacrifice Anything

***Note from later: Whoaaa...apparently this chapter didn't post? I still got a couple reviews though...weird...o_o Oh well, just in case, here it is all over again! :) Sorry about the inconvenience!***

**Okay, guys, Sapphire Wych and I are in super Vampire Diaries mode right now. Did anyone see the long-awaited kiss Thursday night? That explains why I'm high on life right now, imagine...I'm STILL bubbly from that episode two nights ago.**

**It. Was. INCREDIBLE. Any other obsessive-compulsive Damon & Elena fans out there like me? XD**

**Anyways, I'm TREMENDOUSLY sorry for the HUGE long wait, so here's the next chapter! :)**

"Careful, Gale," I warned as he flung open the door without a second thought. He stepped back as a table with rows and rows of buttons slowly moved out towards him, and he reached out a hand to push a random one in the middle.

"WAIT!" I shrieked, afraid that it was yet another trap that Cullen had set for us, and he paused, startled. "What, don't we need to try and see what all the buttons do? You're locked in a cage, you know."

"But what if it's a trap?" I scratched my head. "You know how Cullen likes to torture me..."

"It's not," he smirked, rolling his eyes. "We'll be just fine. All we need to do is find the right button! I'm sure one of them opens the cage because all the electricity control areas are in their designated rooms. And without experimentation we will never know the results, am I right?"

The boy could be so infuriating sometimes. I scowled and crossed my arms as he slammed a large red button at the top. There was a nasty noise as a coathanger flew out of a tile on the ground and Gale yelped and cradled his hand to his chest. The button had given him an electrical shock. I nearly started scoffing but instead decided to show my concern. "See? I knew she was setting a trap here for us. I bet she took whatever she uses to avoid the shocks when she presses a button. Does it hurt?" I added quietly at the end, and he smiled painfully and shook his head.

"Nah. We should figure out so that I don't have to sacrifice an arm just to get you out of a cage." Only Gale could bring a smile to my face when I was standing inside a metal cage, cold, hungry, and sopping wet.

"You're not going to regret sacrificing that arm. I'm well worth your arm. In fact, I'm worth your other arm, too."

"I disagree. The only person worth both my arms is President Snow. Now if _he _were in the cage..." My attractive snort made him grin as he put a hand through his hair, trying to figure out which button was right. The buttons were patterned red and yellow: unfortunately, all of them were the same shape and the same size. It would be nearly impossible to choose one from a set of 20.

Gale spent five minutes scanning the room and squinting his eyes at every machine visible and then the buttons. After closing his eyes and biting his nails, he finally uttered two words: "Got it."

"What? How did you get it - how do you know it's the right one? Gale, what if it does something worse? I was kidding about you sacrificing both your arms for me, you know."

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course I do!" I said indignantly, and he give me one of those incredible half-smiles that made me melt on the spot.

"Then be prepared to be released from the dungeon." With a slight hesitation, he shot out his hand, slapped a yellow button on the bottom row and retracted it before the button could shock him too badly. The metal above me started to creak and with a groan, the cage lifted itself and disappeared into the ceiling. I was left staring at him, awestruck, but he took my arm and rushed me to the window.

"Come on, let's get out of here before people start suspecting you of being alive. The soldiers - " He was interrupted by banging at the door and the sound of guns right outside the door.

"You know how to climb down, right?" I asked him worriedly. "How did you climb up here, anyway?"

"Just do what I tell you to do. Put both your feet out the window," he instructed, and I complied, grabbing onto the edge of the window as I squeezed my eyes shut, not daring to look underneath. He was the only one who knew that heights, even a two-story-high window made me queasy.

"That's right," he said encouragingly. "Now slide your arms down along the sides, put your feet on the rock jutting out right below you. Put your hands on the platform where your feet were."

I tried my hardest to obey, but I suddenly lost balance and clenched my teeth as my feet hung down below me. I had a very loose grip on the windowsill and Gale immediately slipped out the window to help me.

With swift movements, he climbed to the bottom using ledges and cracks and jutted-out bricks that I could barely see. I heard a thump as he jumped down to the bottom. "Put your feet on the ledge to your bottom-right..." I willed myself to look below me just for a moment and regain a little balance by putting my right foot on the ledge, but my hands were losing control and I knew it would be a matter of seconds before I had to let go. Why had I been so close to death in the last few hours - was I really that pathetic? Needing help every step of the way?

"Now let go."

"What? Are you mad?" I groaned, wishing I could wipe the sweat off my forehead. "I'll die!"

"I'll catch you, Katniss. You're not that far away from the ground - you just think you are."

"I'm not jumping down!" I stubbornly held onto the sill, shaking and trying to breath calmly. "Wow," I muttered to myself. "I really _am _pathetic."

"You're not pathetic, Catnip. You're just exhausted because you've done way more in one week than any other girl your age will ever be able to do. Now let go of the damn window! Don't you trust me?"

I bit my lip as hard as I could and snapped my hand back, cradling it to my chest as I fell about ten feet, trying my hardest not to scream. I landed on firm muscle, but even Gale staggered backwards with my weight.

"I'm...okay." I awkward climbed down from his arms and gave him a confident smile. "Let's pretend that never happened and run."

He nodded and I looked around curiously. Because Cullen's office and garden were so far in the back and in an isolated place, there were no guards standing around.

"Where do you think she'd be?"

"Hmm? Who?" I moved around a pile of dirt on the ground with a foot; I wished the muck from under my nails would disappear. Cullen's walls really were dirty.

"Cullen. She's obviously not in the New Capitol, so where do you think she'd be?"

I thought about this for a moment, trying to replay every interview I'd seen on TV in my head of both Cullen and Snow. Did they have a special place they'd accidentally let slip on TV?

Suddenly something clicked. "Gale," I said urgently. "Don't you remember that one special episode where Plutarch Heavensbee interviewed Snow and Snow had mentioned a secluded house on top of a cliff?"

"Yeah..." he stared off into a space for a moment before suddenly turning towards me again. "I remember! It was the cliff in District 8, on the very edge. It's on the beach where no one goes, and you can barely see the house because it's surrounded by tall trees!"

"We're so good at this," I beamed. "I bet you she's hiding in there...stupid lady shouldn't have ever said that on TV." I was suddenly struck with a realization...I had forgotten Peeta.

"Where's Peeta?" I nearly shouted, grabbed Gale's shoulder, and shook him. "Where is he? Is he okay?"

"He's fine," he replied, glancing at me before looking back out at the forest behind us. "He was feeling sick after our little encounter with the soldiers so I sent him home to get some rest. Do you want me to call him up?"

"No," I said, a little too quickly. "Don't. He needs some rest; he's done a lot for day. Peeta can't handle that much at once - he's not used to it."

"All right." Gale gently removed my hands from his shoulders. "Let's go. We'll go through the forest to the main street and catch a bus or something that leads to District 8, and from there we'll see what happens."

We broke into a steady jog, making our way around the trees to the other side.

"Gale?"

"Hmm?"

"How did you figure out which button was the right one to press inside Cullen's office?"

He shrugged, motioning at me to follow him as he turned left to go along a shadier path. "I realized that each button corresponded with the exact opposite machine in the room. For example, when I pressed the top button, something came out from below the ground so I just did some calculations and pressed the middle button at the bottom so that the one on the back wall, your cage, would lift back up into the ceiling."

"Oh." How had he thought of this himself in just a few seconds?

The next few minutes were spent in awkward silence as we finally reached a street, breathing heavily and stretching our arms and legs. I sat down on the ground, realizing that this was the most I'd exercised in my life. We'd run a good ten miles or so.

"Hey, Catnip." Gale offered me a hand.

"Yeah?" This time, without any hesitation, I took it and he hauled me off of the ground.

"I was just kidding in there, you know. I'd sacrifice anything for you."

**Okay, some character building in there! You'll be proud of me when I say this but...I've ALREADY started the next chapter! Pretty epic, huh? Hell yeah. Plus, I pointed out one of Kat's weaknesses. I know that wasn't ever one of her weaknesses in the book...well, it is now. }:D muahahahahaaaa.**

**And oh my god guys thank you SO MUCH for the amazing reviews! Do you know how much you guys make me smile? A LOT. I won't put in the fact that it's really easy to make me smile but you guys make me like...smile so hard that my face hurts afterward. I'm not kidding.**

**Bahahaha but have an incredible weekend everyone! I promise I will take less time to update this time. Especially since the next chapter will have what we all love most...ACTION. YAY! (pinky promise!)**

**xoxo  
>Gale<strong>


	18. Fireplace

**Sorry again. So freakin sorry...I have to apologize like every chapter but I promise you I had a valid reason to not write up till now. FINALS WEEK. Grrr. Except I wrote one Vampire Diaries chapter over the break O.O lol I was on a Damon high. Sooo yeah ;P**

**Anyways, I listened to music and so I'm in a Gale-y mood right now. I need some Gale. Therefore, I will write this story. Here's more.**

"We're here." I motioned to Gale and he followed my line of sight through the thicket of small trees to the sight below - and above. One of the most scenic places in Panem stared back at me as I gaped at the sheer beauty of it all. The forest ended where we were standing, and right below our feet was a hundred foot drop with another forest, dense with dark green trees, for a mile or two. Then, as the trees became sparse near the ocean, a thousand foot cliff jutted straight out into the air, connected by a narrow straight to the rest of the steep mountains behind it. Near the strait there was an assortment of trees and I could see a pearly white house behind it, barely visible, which must have been Cullen's.

"I'd seen this place in pictures my whole life," Gale said in wonder, scratching his head. "I can't believe we're actually...here."

"And, we can see more than what we saw in the pictures, right?" I laughed, nudging him. He grinned back at me and almost jumped onto the cloud of trees below. I pulled him back and led him down the hillside slowly, warning him to watch his step.

"So...when we get there, who's going to kill Cullen?" I asked, preparing myself for Gale's obvious answer.

"Me. You're not going to enter the house. If someone is going to be trapped, it's going to be me. If for some reason I die, get rid of the nuisance for me, okay?" His steps became more stubborn and confident.

"Don't say that," I replied quietly. "You're not going to die because I'll be there with you."

"Funny," he snorted. "Wish it was true."

I scowled. "What weapons do you have in your bag?" I knew he'd get a chance to break into the weapon room while I was in Cullen's office. I knew my best friend - there was nothing more he'd rather collect that a good assortment of weapons.

"Just a gun," he said matter-of-factly, avoiding my glare.

"I bet. What else?" I asked, sounding equally as innocent.

"Another gun...and a snare. And a mini grenade, and a couple knives."

"That all?" My eyes bored into his until he finally gave in with a sigh and threw his arms up in defeat.

"Fine. I admit it, I also have a pair of scissors."

"_That's _more like it," I said with a smirk, and jumped the last two steps to the ground. Gale sat down on his butt and slid through the dirt to the ground, standing up with a hop. A roll of my eyes covered up the fact that I secretly loved it when his childish habits showed through once in a while.

The walk through the second forest was cumbersome and the climb up to the top of the cliff was so fatiguing that Gale and I were lying down on the ground by the end of the hike, trying to get our breath back. I stood up after five minutes, wiped the sweat off my brow, and looked to the small house hiding behind the fall-colored trees. Before he could protest, I rushed off to the front door, and without a second thought heaved myself against the wooden plank. To my surprise, it gave in almost immediately and I stumbled into the living room.

Gale rushed in behind me, obviously annoyed, but there was nothing he could do about it now. I'd chosen to stand and fight next to him and all he could do was properly execute his plan.

"CULLEN! Are you in here? If you're in here, then you'd better come out peacefully before we drag you out with force," I cried into the stillness. There was no answer, and in fact, no sound at all.

The room was plain. The wall were white and the only color that really stood out was the fireplace, which was a rusty red. Unsurprisingly, there was no fire in the fireplace and the whole room was much below room temperature as the cold wind blew through the open windows. There was no furniture and no decor; it was just an unused house, completely vacant of people and things. The silence was so unnerving that I had to cough a couple of times to make sure I wasn't going deaf. I looked around for Gale, only to find that he'd already disappeared into another room, which was also empty. Each window showed a lovely view of the ocean and I had to resist sitting on each windowsill and daydreaming for hours.

Unfortunately, Cullen was nowhere to be seen. If she had left any clues, Gale had obviously figured them out because as I peered around the corner of the hallway he stood transfixed, staring at something in shock.

"What happened?" I asked meekly, almost not wanting to know the answer.

"She knew we were coming here," he said softly. "We thought we were clever but she's always one step ahead." He whipped out a small, elliptical object from behind him. I squinted at the object in confusion before finally straining my ears to hear an almost nonexistent ticking noise.

"We have a minute to get far, far away from this house," he muttered, throwing it as far away as he could and grabbing my arm. "She probably has twenty mines set up in this house."

I didn't bother to say a word. The ticking got louder, but when we reached the living room the front door slammed shut. The windows did the same, and dark red curtains covered them up.

"No!" I shrieked, running at the door with all my might but failing to get it open in any way. Gale shot at the door multiple times but the holes made by the bullets didn't form any visible cracks in the strong wood.

"_Damn it_," he hissed, rummaging in his backpack. The ticking was getting faster and faster.

"Run to the fireplace," he instructed me, and I shook my head. "I'm here with you."

"God damn it, RUN!" he cried. "Do you want to live and kill Cullen or not? Or this whole _country _will die. I'm just going to explode this door open so...so you can get out. Don't worry, I'll go to the fireplace...but there's no way I can let you die."

I bit my lip, nodded, and ran as fast as I could to the master bedroom. A gust of wind almost knocked me over as I opened the door and tried to calculate the probability that Gale would live if he took refuge in the fireplace.

Through the open door, I watched Gale take out his most precious weapon: the mini grenade. It was very weak; weak enough to not harm me, but it was too strong for something who was standing just a few feet away. And I knew that the grenade would only give a second to make contact with something hard after activated.

No way would I let this be the end for Gale. He'd come such a long way and he'd saved my life so many times. He meant something huge to me and losing him would affect me as severely as not being able to breathe.

So when he finally took the grenade out, clicked the button and threw, I pushed him with as much force as I possibly could into the fireplace, which was almost ten feet away. The grenade reached the door just as I slid in beside him, and we looked at each other, waiting for the door to burst into flames and provide us a way out of this Hell.

The explosion never happened.

**Omg, I wasn't planning to write it that way. Dear god, I didn't even know what I was going to write O.O But there you have it! :D The next chapter! And the next one after this will have MORE action! Yay for action! :)**

**Btw. Thank you SO MUCH for the reviews. I got AMAZING reviews. I love you guys so much. GROUP HUG! Sorry to the people I haven't PM'd back yet, I'll get that done today or tomorrow! ;) LOVE YOU ALL.**

**Have a superfantastical weekend.  
><strong>

**xoxo. Gale **


	19. Just Keep Giving Up

**Omg you guys I haven't updated in so long I had to re-read the last chapter so I could remember what happened...:o**

**...and turns out I left you with a horrible cliffhanger that I have no clue how to resolve.**

**Screw that, I'll just start writing and see how it turns out ;)**

Gale swearing under his breath was a bad sign. It meant that he didn't have any other escape plans left in his head, which meant that we would die in the hands of stupid Cullen.

But somehow, I wasn't exactly ready to give up yet. If we'd gone this far, it wouldn't hurt to try to do _anything _to save ourselves, right?

The ticking was getting faster and faster and I knew we only had maybe half a minute before the house blew up, so I voiced my last thought out loud.

"Gale. We're going to climb up the chimney."

He stared at me for what felt like minutes and then slapped his forehead. "How could I not think of that before? Catnip, you're a genius." Unlike last time, I smiled at the use of my nickname, ignoring the fact that we were near death.

He hoisted me a few feet up into the chimney, and I coughed as the smoke and dust trapped in the confined space made their way into my nose. I scampered up as quickly as I could, not daring to look down even though the ground was only a few feet away. Each beep was getting closer and closer to the next one and the tears that were accumulating in my yes from both the dust and (I don't like to admit it) emotion spilled out as I tried to find more bricks as footholds. The top of the the chimney was now within my reach, and I grasped it with a cry of relief, hoisting myself up and breathing the clean air.

Within moments my thoughts turned back to my best friend, who was still inside with only seconds before the bomb would explode. When I looked back down to shout for Gale, I saw that he was already up halfway.

"Hurry," I said anxiously, reaching down to take his hand. He latched his fingers through mine and I guided him up to the top. As soon as he could stand, I rushed him to the lowest part of the roof, which was just a few feet above the ground. We crawled to the edge and were about to jump off when the beep below us turned into a single wail.

Then everything crashed down on me...we were done for. If the bomb was really that strong, we would both go over the edge of the cliff. "It's over. It was nice knowing you," I told Gale with a long, shuddering sigh. "Gale, I just want you to know that I - "

"Stop giving up!" he snapped, obviously irritated. Was he not aware of how much time we had left? "We're _not _going to die. We're going to get off of this house and run before the bomb - "

All of a sudden, we were both thrown violently off our feet. As the house exploded into smoke, fire, and dust, Gale and I were left flying through the air and ready to fall to our death. By some miracle, I saw the bush before I felt it. Instinctively I thrust my hands out in front of me, colliding with the bush and landing in a big mess. It hurt more than anything I'd ever felt before, but I ignored the pain and stumbled out of the bush to try to find Gale.

I was frightened to find that he was hanging off of the cliff with a horrid expression on his face. I limped as quickly as I could to the cliff and crouched down as best as I could next to him.

"It...hurts, Katniss. It really, really hurts," he hissed through clenched teeth, and this was the first time I'd ever heard him admit to pain. I didn't want to imagine just how many bones he could have broken to finally be able to voice his sorrow out loud.

"Hang in there!" I whispered, not sure how long he could possibly hang in there after all. When his grip on the ledge loosened by a fraction, I jumped forward and covered his hands protectively with mine.

"You thought _I _was the one giving up?" I retorted, referring to his earlier complaint. I stared right into his dark eyes. "Look, I survived! You will too, be strong!"

"Katniss, stop talking and look behind you," he said in a low voice, motioning behind me. I turned around and my blood ran cold.

President Cullen was standing ten feet behind me, hands on her hips, a smug expression on her ugly face.

* * *

><p>The volcano of anger inside me finally decided to erupt the second my eyes met the smirk of my enemy.<p>

"Are you HAPPY now, Cullen?" I screamed, turning around and limping towards the woman. "You've ruined _my _life, you've ruined my best friend's life, and now you're going to ruin the life of my family and every single other person in Panem. I applaud you. Congratulations, you won."

Her high-pitched cackle was infuriating and it took all the self control I had left not to slap her as hard as I possibly could.

"Forgot about your boyfriend? He's about to let go, Mockingjay." Instead of worrying about my dignity, I grabbed his hands again, silently asking him if there was a way out. I prayed that he wouldn't have a blank look on his face - I'd come to depend on him for so much, and I realized that without me, he'd most likely be dead, too. We couldn't live without each other. I wished I could wipe the blood off his head and take care of him as I had the last time we landed in a life-or-death situation.

"In my right pocket, if you can reach it," he murmured, almost soundlessly.

"What's there?" I whispered back, and he gave me a small, guilty smile.

The scissors.

"There's no point in trying to pull him up now, Kat," Cullen snorted. "Tell you what - let's make a deal. Either both you and Soldier Hawthorne die at this moment, or he lets go and I'll consider sparing your life."

Cullen said exactly what I'd been dreading, but when I turned back to Gale I found that this time he was one step ahead of Cullen.

"Get the scissors and stab her heart. They're long." He squeezed his eyes shut and faced Cullen.

"I'll let Gale go, if it means that I can live and get rid of you," I said in a sullen voice. Before Cullen could add one of her snarky comments, I added, "But President, can I give him a last hug before he lets go?"

Cullen grinned, obviously not expecting my next move. "Go right ahead, hug Hawthorne. But make it quick, please," she said, snapping her fingers.

I nodded, got to my knees, and put one arm around Gale as I used the other to try to reach for his pocket.

"Catnip...in case it doesn't work, I'm covered. Aim well," he whispered into my ear. I ignored his words and concentrated on not leaning too far. I slid my hand into his pocket as carefully as I could and felt the looped eye ring of the scissors.

"I'm waiting, Mockingjay," Cullen rasped.

With one swift moment, I snatched the scissors out of Gale's pocket and prepared to throw them right into her heart like a spear, but instead of acting according to my brain's instructions, my aching fingers decided to uncurl and let go of the scissors too early. It fell down into the mist and dread took over my body before I heard the faint splash.

Instead of commenting on my ridiculous mistake, Cullen took one look behind me, smiled even bigger than before, and asked me to follow her. Instead of complying, I turned back at the risk of my own life to Gale, hoping that there was one last way Gale could keep breathing, but when I did my heart stopped beating.

He was gone.

**WTF. I was not intending to end the chapter like that...whoa. Now I have to think about what happened to our favorite soldier...**

**I know, I know that was a tad bit OOC. XD I promise the next chapter will be a little less hehehe I was just feeling like I needed a preppier Katniss. Muahaha.**

**On a lighter note, I hope you guys had a fab weekend! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS! Omg I was like freaking out and dancing a happy dance because you guys are so freakin' amazing.**

**So the last chapter broke my personal record for most reviews in one chapter! :) And as a reward, this is what I'll do: for everyone that reviews this chapter, I will choose my favorite one of your stories and promo it on Tumblr! And then I'll post the link on my profile so yall can see it, of course.**

**That just shows my love for you, right? Right.**

**xoxoxoxoxo. Gale**


	20. The Hanging Tree

**HI EVERYONE!**

**Before I get started, let me say something (and this is a random time to say it because I should have in the first chapter): I don't own ANY of this. Except the storyline, of course! :P**

**Oh my god so I have a few things to say: #1 SO SORRY for the delay (as usual, huh? -.-), #2 DID YOU SEE THE HUNGER GAMES MOVIE? What did you think of it? Omg Gale was so hot. I just can't...:'D and I thought the movie was VERY well done and pretty damn accurate except I was mad that they didn't include Peeta's prosthetic leg and Kat's enhanced hearing and Gale's MOST FAMOUS LINE..."Remember I..." I was so mad. Huh. Oh well, other than that and the over-shaking of the camera, it was great!**

**And #3, yes, as of now, I am officially 3 Unforgivable Curses. Of course, you guys still gotta call me Gale because I'll forever be Gale to all of my lovely readers hehe. Have I told you guys how much I love all of you? Well, I do.**

**So on with the story.**

"Let...go...of...me," I hissed through clenched teeth, elbowing Cullen with every word. She had surprising strength for one who appeared as a frail old woman who'd be no good to anyone.

She dragged me along the dirt and I felt like a child struggling against a grown man.

"Let's take a trip back to...how about my office?" she crooned. "We could have a cup of tea and discuss your problems."

I snorted, suddenly feeling a surge of energy and confidence. "Hell no. I think I should kill you right here, in this spot."

She cackled in reply. "Stop getting your hopes up, child. You'll die yourself before even being able to _attempt _to kill me."

In returned, I jerked free and elbowed her so hard in the face her nose began bleeding. She growled menacingly, spat out blood, and grabbed me by the neck.

"_Don't you dare do that again_." The smell of blood was on her breath. Maybe she and her twin brother spent time together sucking living things dry.

I choked in her grasp and she loosened it enough to allow me to breathe. "Now I am going to escort you back to my office, and then you will be executed out in the open. No worries," she added with a cruel grin, "it'll be on public television. I've already notified your mother and your star-crossed lover to watch."

I swore under my breath and grudgingly allowed her to drag me to her van. My thoughts immediately went back to Gale and I refused to believe that he was...was dead. He hadn't fallen off the cliff - he must have held onto something underneath. There was no way I'd let Gale Hawthorne die for me.

And I knew that in a situation like this, Gale would want me to forget about him and keep trying to find a way to fix everything. Because I was so used to keeping my emotions under control, being hurt over and over again, I somehow managed to keep standing but his name, his face, his voice never left my head.

Cullen practically threw me into the back of her van. She sent two burly guards to sit on either side of me, ensuring that I wouldn't be able to escape from the van. On top of that, she locked windows with bars all around us and only after she was satisfied she went and sat calmly in the front, ordering a third guard to drive.

The road was bumpy all the way back to the New Capitol. I drifted in and out of consciousness with a variety of heated, angry thoughts clouding up my head. It took a half an hour for the van to pull up and slow to a stop.

"Second floor," Cullen was ordering her guards in her dissonant, scratchy tone. "And _you're _coming with _me_," she nearly screamed in glee, reminding me of a toddler excited over his new toy. Maybe that's all I'd become in the last few days. Cullen's toy.

Trying to come up with a genius plan to escape, I absent-mindedly let myself be pulled by her up the stairs and into her room. The thermostat must have been broken because it was at least eighty degrees inside.

"Let me tie you to this lovely chair," she said, and all of a sudden I lost my temper.

"Damn you, Cullen!" I snarled, and kicked her in the same spot I'd already injured her minutes ago - her crooked nose. Cullen cried out in pain and I took this chance to grab her hands, thrust them behind her back, and forcefully sit her down on an uncomfortable, wooden chair while holding her hands together.

Unfortunately, I'd forgotten that she probably had guards waiting everywhere at this point. "B-9," she bellowed, and B-9 ran out of the closet, throwing me off of Cullen. I collided with the wall and groaned, rubbing my head. My migraine was getting worse and worse.

As B-9 was comforting Cullen, I took the opportunity to try to dash out the door, but B-9 was too quick for me. We struggled in the doorway; my hands were on his neck and he was repeatedly elbowing me in the ribs, kicking and thrashing and punching, and he finally threw me over his shoulder, broken and bruised, and dumped me back on the ground.

I'd never experienced being defeated like this and it put me to worse shame than I'd ever felt in my life. My head was now throbbing. Cullen had recovered and was towering over me with a triumphant smile on her ugly face.

"Ready to die?"

"Not yet," I breathed, and with the last bit of energy I had left in my black-and-blue body, I jumped out of my crouching position, staggered forwards and pushed her as hard as I could into B-9. They stumbled backwards but B-9 caught Cullen before she could fall, rushed over to me, and slammed me back into the wall.

Exhausted and crying out in pain, I slumped against the wall. Even Katniss Everdeen would have to fight someone stronger than her someday.

"Take her to the noose," Cullen snickered.

B-9 snatched my right arm with his left hand and hauled me to the end of the hallway and all the to the stairs. I refrained from yelping every time I skidded and tripped down the stairs. The workers were smiling and clapping, but I honestly wasn't sure who they were clapping for anymore. I couldn't even tell whether these workers were on Cullen's side or mine.

I made several attempts to kill B-9 by repeatedly kicking and punching his legs, but either his uniform was metal, or he was too high on drugs to feel anything.

Dread filled me from head to toe as I saw the camera in the corner of the courtyard. Thousands of citizens were standing and yelling at about a hundred-foot radius from me.

There was a thick, dirty rope with an unbreakable knot hanging from a tree a few feet in front of me.

_Are you, are you_  
><em>coming to the tree?<em>

I struggled in his grasp and obstinately removed my head from the noose every time B-9 tried to stuff my head into it. The afternoon sun was setting and the darkness was crawling in. Maybe it was the chilly wind mixed with the commotion of the crowd that finally gave B-9 enough strength to drive my head through the loop. He tightened it around my neck so quickly I gasped, and then grabbed the other end of the rope with a leer.

_Where they strung up a man they say murdered three._

**WELL. What will happen next? ;)**

**Reviews would be adored! Btw, thanks SO much for the reviews on the last chapter; I loved them!**


	21. Last Confession

**I have missed all of you _so _much. I won't even say sorry for leaving because I don't know how to express how sorry I really am. It was _never _my intention to ditch this story, and that's why I'm back here writing for it.**

**It's been a hard six months, and all I've really been able to do is reblog picture after picture on tumblr. No words were able to find their way onto paper. I've done horribly on school essays, to say the least. These six months have been such a brain blockage, and I'm _so _sorry I wasn't able to tell you all earlier.**

**But I'm back, at least for a while, and I'm _going _to finish this story, even though updates may be slow. Also, the writing may still be crappy but let me know.**

**So here you are back with Katniss and Gale, and the newest chapter of Is This Real?**

"Stop."

I didn't even believe it the first time, so I kept squinting and gnashing my teeth together until I heard it again, louder.

"STOP!"

Gentle hands on mine. I turned around and a tear of relief slipped out of my eye. Secretly, I never wanted to die alone, and I almost thought that I'd actually have to suffer my recurring nightmare.

"Annie! What are you doing?" I whispered urgently. "Get out of here." Who knew it would be so difficult to command someone to leave?

She tucked some unruly hair behind my ear. "There's no way in hell I'm leaving you." I tried to protest but she shushed me. "These bastards deserve to die for what they've made my son go through."

"How _touching_," Cullen snarled. "Kitty Kat sends her BFF to come save the day. What," she spluttered to Annie, "are you going to sprinkle some fairy dust on me and send me hurtling into those lovely thickets?"

Everything was silent. The workers had stopped working, and were now staring me in the eye. I tried to avoid their glares but it was so difficult when there was a worker standing in every vacant space.

"Nah," she chuckled, but I couldn't mistake that shake in her voice. "I'm here to rip your heart out of your chest, and throw _that _into the lovely thickets, president."

I was thrown aback by her forwardness. _Good job, Annie__! _I applauded her mentally, but knew that it wouldn't do any good. Deep down inside, I knew that Annie and I were absolutely nothing compared to the power that Cullen, B-9, and the workers had.

"I'll take care of her," B-9 rasped, but Cullen held him back. "Stop it! I want to here the _entire_ speech," she ordered with an ugly giggle. "Before she dies."

"Can I...can I give Katniss a hug before we both die? It's just that we're such good friends, and it was our dream to die together," she mumbled, lip quivering. Was Annie really doing this?

"Annie, are you nuts?" I hissed. "Get _out _of here! Are you really going to leave Jax alone for _me_?"

She just smiled tearfully and turned to Cullen, who was guffawing.

"Let the idiot give her friend a hug, and then we'll do away with both. B-9, bring out another noose."

And then I was able to read her face, clear as day as she turned back to me: _we'll see who the idiot actually is,_ _Cullen. _Annie's arms were around me, one hand on the ropes that bound my wrist, one hand cutting them open with a small knife. I let a few tears slide down my cheeks for good measure.

My hands were loose. I wiggled my fingers, trying to get the blood flowing back into them. Annie was finally able to cut through most of the rope around my neck and I struggled not to breathe too quickly. She squeezed my hand and slipped the knife into my back pocket. I wondered if any of the workers behind me had noticed anything...nope. They were too stupid. Lucky it was nearly dark.

Annie put her hands on my shoulders and sniffled. "Goodbye, dear friend."

My shoulders nearly shook from laughter. Hell, what was there to lose when I had already lost so much? "Goodbye, Annie," I answered with a grin completely unsuited for the occasion.

"Done yet?" Cullen tapped her foot impatiently. "This is _way _too sentimental. I'm ready to eat some human for dinner."

Ugh, the woman was disgusting. Still smiling widely, I grabbed the knife in my back pocket, ripped it through the rest of the rope, and threw a perfect shot at Cullen. The knife lodged itself into her shoulder, exactly where I was aiming for.

She stared at me flustered for a few moments, then began screaming and crying. "GET HER, B-9!"

_Oooh, she'd have to begin to stop depending on someone else so much_, I thought gleefully. Cullen's office exploded into flames, and I grabbed Annie's hand and ran.

Somehow I always found myself in the woods.

* * *

><p>The fact that the workers were up and sprinting behind us was already a problem. I didn't know where we were headed, and if we wound up in a dead end we would basically be dead.<p>

Of course, it wasn't long before I led us onto a cliff I'd never seen before. Leave it to me to find new ways of making mistakes.

The workers were edging near us. I could feel the scuffling of their feet and hear the hollowness of their heads. I could smell the danger on their hands and taste the orders about to spurt from Cullen's mouth.

"I guess this is the end, Katniss..." Annie didn't sound confident anymore. She wasn't lying this time...

...and neither would I. "I guess so, Annie." It was so _shameful _to die in this way. I felt my body go hot - I'd not let someone I loved die, I'd failed myself. I'd failed the country, and I'd never be forgiven for it. Let the fact make me turn over in my grave but I'd way rather have saved the country and died as a hero than died without contributing anything to the good of the people. I wasn't the cocky Mockingjay anymore - I was Katniss Everdeen, a young girl who, even though she got unwillingly dragged into the middle of a disaster, felt it was her duty so save her homeland from it.

And now I was going to die in the middle of nowhere and be pushed off a cliff by a brainless minion of my most hated enemy.

I'd never really gotten the chance to believe, or be faithful to God, but to be fair I knew I had to make a confession to Annie before we both went.

"I have to tell you something," I whispered to her. "If I don't get it out right now, my soul will never rest in peace."

Annie raised her eyebrows. "What is it that won't let you rest in peace?"

One of the workers was sauntering towards us.

"The reason I ran away from my wedding - was - "

The worker took something out of his pocket. It was made of metal and seemed to have a hook.

"Yes?" Annie urged me. "Go on. This is your last chance."

"Annie," I cried, not afraid anymore. "It's because I'm in love with - "

An arrow shot through the air, went clean through the worker, and I caught it swiftly.

"Gale."

**I love you all so much, and I may as well hang myself with that cliffhanger I left you at last chapter...LOL.**

**I know I don't deserve any more reviews on this story, but I sincerely hope all my readers who used to read this will come back to (hopefully) enjoy it once again.**

**I've missed everyone so much, and thank you _so much_ to those who reviewed while I was gone.**

**Gale**


	22. Last Words

**Hi, everyone! I'll just stop apologizing for how late I'm writing these chapters because I know you all know how guilty I feel. Yeah. So here's the next chapter, continuing after that ugly cliffhanger I left you with (by the way, Katniss may be a little OOC because she's quite hysterical atm.) **

**Thanks so much for the reviews, by the way...they were beautiful. I'm so glad you guys are still interested.**

The blood slid down my hand and dripped onto the dirt. I smeared some on my hands and held both of them out for the soldiers to see. Some of them cringed, but the majority remained silent and frozen. After all, they had been raised to think without thinking.

"Afraid?" I laughed. Gale's appearance meant a large jump in courage for me. "This'll be _your _blood once I'm done with you." Tears were beginning to form in my eyes. I'd never admitted to anybody how I hated the emotional wreck I'd become. Really, I'd never even admitted anything to anybody.

I turned around and saw that Annie was hiding a smile. "Let's get 'em," I murmured to her, and turned around to look at Gale. He nodded once and we charged from both sides.

I whipped and slashed with my knife, kicked and punched, bit and tore, growled and charged again. I could feel myself turning into an animal, becoming what I was once afraid the Hunger Games would make me become. And I was right; it had turned me into a savage. It had scarred me, bitten into my flesh so deep that I couldn't remove it. It was a mark that would forever remain on me, whether I was alive or dead.

But lately I had been so determined to beat the Hunger Games altogether that I knew I was turning into a better form of the beast I'd become. I was the villain defeating the villain. Shedding blood, wasting lives, but still fighting to end the revolution I'd started.

I had now learned to kill without conscious thought. Blindly slashing through humans, then kicking their bodies out of my way. Panting, I tried to make my way to Gale but he reached me first and caught my falling body.

"Katniss?"

I gasped for breath and held my knife up in the air. "Let's finish 'em off, Gale," I drawled maliciously. "Don't leave until they're all dead. _All _of them. I want to see each...and every one of them...beg...for...mercy." I whipped my weapons around me, oblivious to the emptiness of the scene. There I stood, at the top of a pile of dead bodies.

"Katniss."

"I want to see their blood fly," I shouted hysterically. "I want to avenge Prim's death, and Finnick's, and Madge's."

"Katniss," Annie called from behind me. "Stop!"

"Gale, I don't want any of them to live. All their lives cost as much as the lives of the people I loved," I groaned as a last minute effort to heave myself up, but Gale held me tightly.

"Katniss, stop."

"KILL THEM!"

"STOP!" he yelled, holding down my struggling figure. "Katniss, you have to _stop_. The last few are retreating anyway. We're too strong for them when they don't have Cullen's mind. Let them go...they won't hurt you anymore. Why are you doing this?"

I stared at my best friend, who had become so much more lately, and let myself relax. "I don't want anyone else to suffer because of me," I whimpered. "This is all my fault, and revenge is my apology, I guess, you know?"

He nodded. "I know. But someone taught me, not too long ago, that it's not always helpful to burn with rage and hatred. Maybe the fact that you've been risking your life to save this country for the last year is a pretty damn good apology in itself...even though you don't owe anyone an apology. I think it's the country that owes you a big thank you."

"You too, Soldier Hawthorne," I sniffled.

Gale hugged me to him. "It's over, Catnip. It's over." I buried my face into his shirt, wishing I could sit in the same position forever.

"Well, isn't this _touching_."

"You really need to come up with a new punchline, Cullen," I spat, raising myself to meet her. She was out of breath, having walked a whole few feet from her castle to her enemy. "Want some Gatorade to boost your energy?"

Gale slipped a bow into my hands. "Aim well," he whispered, and I smiled. The line was all too familiar, and it worked all too well.

"Any last words?" I smiled despite the tears that were blurring my vision.

"You're being foolish, Katniss," Cullen stuttered. "You know I have more men to come after you - "

"Cut the bullshit, President," Gale snapped. "If you have anything valuable left to say, I'd advise you to inform us now."

All of a sudden, Cullen stared into my eyes and I shuddered, forcing myself not to look away. Her red eyes bore into mine, and they seemed to cut straight through my face and into my mind. "I'm always going to haunt you, Mockingjay, you hear me? When you sleep, I'll be there to keep you company."_  
><em>

My stance began to falter.

"I'll be in every single one of your thoughts and worries."

My hands began to shake.

"And I'll _always _make things happen to you from...below," she cackled. "Things that no one else could ever have enough power to cause.

"I'll make Annie disappear, and then Jax. And your mother's coming next, and then maybe your star-crossed lover, Peeta. And then...who knows? If that's not amusing enough to watch, I'll kill off the one person you can't live without."

I was trembling through the entire speech, but when she got to the last line, I couldn't handle it anymore.

"_Over my dead body,_" I said through clenched teeth and let the arrow slide through my fingers. Cullen fell to her knees, and the arrow landed in the tree behind her, staked right through her heart.

* * *

><p>The three of us stood there silently, eyes closed and heads bent. When we finally looked up, none of us uttered a word about the red-stained scene around us.<p>

We walked heavily back to the charred remains of the Capitol building and found a cab to take us back home. The streets weren't noisy as usual, but as soon as the media got full coverage, I knew that the entire environment would change.

Nothing was spoken until we were standing in front of Annie's house.

"I knew it," Annie whirled around to meet my glance as her face broke into the huge smile that she'd been struggling not to show for so long.

"Knew what?" Gale asked.

I turned beet red.

**WELL, there you go! I'm not displeased with what I just wrote, but meh coulda done better but you know what? You guys judge. How was it, and what do you expect to come up? ;)**

**Reviews would be _looooved_! I love you guys! Have a fantastic New Year, everyone! xoxo -Gale**


	23. Our Future

**HEY'ALL! So I just wanted to thank all of you for being here with me for so long...I want to thank those of you who kept reading even though I take the longest breaks between new chapters _ever_! I want to thank everyone who's given me constructive criticism.**

**You guys are honestly the best readers I've ever had and the best fandom I've written for. _Ever_. GO THG!**

**AND 300 REVIEWS! WOW! I never thought I'd reach this many but you guys have helped me so much and I die every time I read your reviews. I'm sorry to say this is the last chapter of the story [I'm very busy now, especially this semester, but I had to take some time out to finish this special story]. I had fun writing it all the way!**

**You may find this chapter similar to one in the beginning, except fluffier ;)**

"Real." That one fatal word had once brought my life to ruins, but after I'd played around it for a little while, realized whom to use it on and whom not to, it had actually helped me find my happiness again.

"Katniss, honey, are you ready?" My mother burst through the door. "It's almost time! Hurry!"

Peeta hadn't taken it well. It took a lot of rubbing his back and telling stupid jokes and remembering and talking about old times and convincing that we were still incredibly close friends to make him understand my dilemma. He whined that I'd told him it was real but I promised him that nothing was more real than the friendship we had. We'd been though so much after all, and it would really hurt to lose him.

Gale seemed to be hesitant after he saw Peeta's reaction. I saw the guilt creep into his face every time he saw Peeta's uncomfortable face. He even tried to talk to me about it, but I told him to give Peeta some time. Peeta would understand. I guess he still felt guilty because for a few weeks he brought breakfast upstairs to Peeta every morning while we were staying at Annie's house.

I looked in the mirror and sighed. Katniss Everdeen, seventeen years old, stared back at me with elegant makeup that completely changed her normal appearance. She knew the cameras would be waiting outside so she shouldn't look unpresentable.

With a smile, I repeated the same actions I'd taken a year back. With one swipe of my hand and a little help from the makeup remover, all the eyeliner and eyeshadow and mascara and concealer and blush and God-knows-what had disappeared.

"Katniss! Come on! What are you doing? There's one more minute left for you to get out there!" My mother was in the doorway again. She stood there, hands on hips, lanky and thin with a lovely face to cover up her figure. I nodded and and she came over and put her arms around me.

"Oh, Kat. Are you sure you're okay with this?"

I pulled back and smiled. "I'm very okay with this. This is what I've wanted for a long, long time but I just didn't know it."

"As long as your happy," my mother sighed. "You must be glad you ran out that day." She led me out of the dressing room and I was silent as we passed the fountain. We opened the large church doors.

This time, the music didn't sound like a funeral hymn. It was pleasant, but all I could stare at was Gale's handsome facing waiting for me at the front. We weren't any normal couple; he couldn't simply smile. Instead, he gave me a wink and cocked an eyebrow and I burst out laughing. His eyes shone as my mother handed me over to Haymitch.

Haymitch took my arm and walked me down the aisle. Gale's eyes shone dark as the night sky. They had me mesmerized, and Haymitch gave me shoulder a bump when I'd stopped to stare. He look my hand once I'd reached the front and I shivered a little, realizing that this was the best decision I'd ever made.

The priest was rambling on and on and once again, I couldn't manage to pay attention. All that I'd been through over the last week had taken my attention away from normal, everyday things and only focused on the things that really mattered - the things that could change your life. The Hunger Games. I'd been through two of them now, and I'd fought the president in more than two instances. I'd become stronger than the lanky teenager I once was. I'd only showed a pretentious attitude before, but after I'd really saved Panem from Cullen, I'd learned that a true hero doesn't actually think of himself or herself as a hero.

"Do you, Gale Hawthorne, take Katniss Everdeen to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do," he grinned, and the corners of my lips turned up.

"Do you, Katniss Everdeen, take Gale Hawthorne to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"No."

The audience gasped, and the silence was overpowering. Faces frowned; a couple guests stood up to leave the room. Gale tried to stifle a snort but failed miserably.

"Just kidding! Of course I do," I laughed, and people started talking again. The cameramen blabbed and the priest didn't even have to give Gale permission to kiss the bride. He suddenly lifted my hand to the air, spun me once, and caught me right above the ground. He pushed back my veil. Our lips met and I couldn't breathe.

It felt like the first time he had kissed me. I could still smell oranges on his breath and my hand automatically curled on his chest. My other hand traced his jaw, and he rested his on my waist. I bit his lip and he smiled against my mouth and finally we broke apart, gasping. He kissed my nose once and we both returned to our initial position, realizing that a whole crowd had been watching us.

"Well...okay," the priest hid a smile. "I declare you husband and wife!"

His words were drowned in the cheering and screams that filled the air. I could see us making the headlines the next morning: _Panem's Fierce Mockingjay and Gorgeous Soldier Get Cozy in a Church_. _A Bright Future is Ahead for Panem_. I could see the future as bright indeed, brighter than I had imagined for a long time. The country could be peaceful for a time. I wasn't on a hit list any longer, and neither was Gale or the hundreds Cullen had set out to kill. Mother was close by, and Peeta had accepted my true feelings, and most importantly, _I _had accepted my true feelings. Prim and Finnick and Madge and everyone who had died were still close to our hearts.

I looked at Gale, his hair falling over his forehead and his charming smile, and I remembered back to how he'd wanted to have kids. I knew he'd wait for the right time and I knew that I didn't want end the Hawthorne or the Everdeen line.

So as he took his hands in mine and looked into my eyes, I told him about the future.

Our future.

**SO, this is the end! I want to thank you all SO MUCH again for reading this. I'm so sorry about the long breaks I took in between chapters but I promise I will begin another story, probably one-shots, when I have time again.**

**This account _will _be inactive now that I've finished this story. You can find me at Quirinus Quirrell, my new account. I won't write much but when I do, I'll try my hardest to make it good, I promise! :)**

**You can find me on tumblr as _resurrectionstones _(Harry Potter blog) and _shirtlessdamon _(Vampire Diaries blog)!**

**So long! xoxo. Gale**


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